The Silent Song of a Sparrow's Goodbye
by AceFangirl
Summary: Third Installment of the Sparks Trilogy! (See Turnabout Sparks and Exorcising the Demon Prosecutor). As the Chief Prosecutor, Miles Edgeworth didn't handle many cases himself. But this was personal.
1. Chapter 1

**_It's finally here! The final installment of the Sparks trilogy! So sorry for putting this thing on hold for so long, I had to take a break to do other things and blah blah blah. Point is, I'm back! Anyway, I don't know how often I'm going to update and it certainly won't be consistent, so if I fall of the face of the planet for a couple months don't worry! This is not going to be one those eternally incomplete stories! And of course I'm going to try really, really hard to make sure that doesn't happen but I just want to cover all my bases upfront! _**

**_Also, there's another story in the making that I highly recommend. It's called The Art of Turnabout, a collaboration between myself and High Inquisitor Darkblaw! Just wanted to put that out there, for anyone who was interested!_**

**_So, thank you so much for reading this, I hope you like it, and please leave a review! :D_**

* * *

The gavel descended, hitting the wooden podium with a solid clap. Those in the gallery quickly fell silent as the sound of the gavel echoed throughout the expansive courtroom, the spectators eagerly awaiting to hear what the judge had to say. On the left hand side of the courtroom, sitting in the top left seat of the gallery, Chief Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth surveyed the scene with his arms crossed and a faint smile on his face.

He had made it a habit to watch the occasional trial in his spare time in order to say on top of what his colleagues were doing. Or at least, that's what he told himself and anyone who asked. Deep down, however, he knew it was because he had begun to miss the courtroom since his promotion. As much as he loved his new position and the opportunities it gave him, nothing could compare to the satisfaction of putting together a case and presenting it to the court. Being a spectator in the gallery allowed him to feel at least some of that excitement.

"Objection sustained," the judge said.

"Thank you, Your Honor," Maria said with a confident smile, light streaking across her glasses.

Also, the fact that his girlfriend was prosecuting today was a complete coincidence.

"But…." the defense attorney mumbled.

"Accept it, the defendant was at the scene of the crime," Maria said. "He said so himself."

"But that doesn't mean he murdered the victim!" the lawyer said.

"Yeah, I told you. I was with a group, any one of us could've bumped the guy off," the defendant said.

"Mr. Rivale, don't interrupt," Maria said.

"I say this every trial, little lady. You can call me Eric," the defendant said.

Eric stood tall and proud behind the witness stand, his smile laced with cockiness. The sides of his russet hair were tinted smoky grey. It was clear that he was middle aged, but his dark eyes still had a youthful, mischievous glint in them.

"And I believe I have repeatedly asked you to stop calling me that," Maria said coldly.

_I can see the malice in her eyes from here…. She looks ready to spit at him. _Miles glanced at the defendant, who appeared to be completely unfazed, perhaps even enjoying himself. _I do wish he'd cease using that ridiculous pet name….And that he'd stop looking at her like that…._

"But you're a little lady, what else am I suppose to call you?" Eric said.

"I'm not having this conversation again, Mr. Rivale," Maria said, crossing her arms and tapping her organizer against her elbow.

"I agree with the prosecution," the judge said. "We've endured this conversation more times than I can count. I must say, I can't recall the last time I've had trials featuring the same defendant every day of the week."

"It's been a busy week for all of us, Your Honor," the defense attorney said, massaging his temples.

_Has he been the defense attorney for all of these trials? That poor man, he looks so crushed…._

"It certainly has been," the judge said, nodding his head. "Um, Ms. Coldstare?"

Maria slowly blinked, leaning on the prosecution's bench with drooped shoulders. She quickly straightened up, adjusting her glasses. "Ahem, yes?"

"Are you alright? You seemed a bit tired…." the judge said.

"I'm fine, Your Honor," Maria said, her tone indicated that the conversation was over.

_She's sick. _Miles sighed to himself. _I probably should have stopped her from coming. But it's too late now, I suppose…._

"Now then, back to the matter at hand," Maria said. "There is evidence that singles out the defendant as the murderer."

"And what would that be?" the judge said.

"The murder weapon," Maria said, presenting a gun. "As you know, this is the gun the defendant used to kill Officer Jonathan Vencherd. It was fired three times the evening of the murder, however only one of the bullets hit the victim. As the autopsy report will tell you, that bullet pierced his heart and the excessive blood loss ended his life moments later."

"Objection!" the defense attorney said. "You say the defendant used the gun, but do you have any evidence to back that up?"

"I was getting to that," Maria said dryly. "The forensics team found the defendant's fingerprints on the gun. Any more questions, or may I continue, Mr….?"

Maria cleared her throat, looking down at her binder.

"For the eleventh time, my name is Tremblin Payne.…" Tremblin murmured, hanging his head down.

"Payne? I thought you were a prosecutor," the judge said.

"You're thinking of my brothers, Your Honor…. Again," Tremblin said.

"Oh, right! My word, three brothers who all became lawyers."

"Actually, there are five of us."

"Really?"

"Ahem," Maria coughed again, disrupting the conversation.

"Ah, right. You were saying, Ms. Coldstare?" the judge said.

Maria continued coughing, covering her mouth her arm. It only worsened, until she was left dry heaving, grabbing the edge of her desk to keep herself up. Eventually, the coughing subsided. She took in a deep breath and picked up her binder as if nothing had happened.

"Um… Ms. Coldstare?" the judge said. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"I seem to recall saying something to that effect only minutes ago, Your Honor," Maria said.

"Yes, but you're coughing quite a bit," the judge said.

"I had an itch in my throat," the brunette prosecutor said.

"If I may put in my two cents," Tremblin said, a smirk snaking its way across his face. "I'd say the prosecution is under the weather."

"If I may add two cents of my own, I suggest that the defense not concern himself with my health and instead focus on his own case," Maria said, her voice weak and raspy.

"I thought you looked pale. Getting a sore throat, little lady?" Eric said, leaning against the witness stand. "You have been shouting a lot lately."

"I'm fine," Maria said, glaring at the defendant. "As I was saying, the defendant's prints were found on the murder weapon. And no one else's. That being the case, I think it's rather clear who shot the victim."

"I'm sorry, but I can't hear what the prosecution is saying," Tremblin said. "Perhaps she could speak up?"

Maria cleared her throat. "I said the defendant's print were on the gun! And no one else's! Tha-ack!"

She broke into another coughing fit, muffling the sound with her jacket sleeve.

"Your Honor, I really don't think the prosecution is fit to be in the courtroom right now," Tremblin said. "Perhaps we should dismiss this case for now."

"Objection!" Maria said, taking in a heavy, ragged breath. "For the last time, I'm fine. The defense is using my cough to distract this court from his hopeless case, and frankly it's pathetic. Your Honor, the defendant is clearly guilty. Both the evidence and Mr. Payne's pitiful attempts to change the subject prove this."

"P-Pitiful?" Tremblin said, taken aback.

"Harsh words, little lady," Eric said.

"Listen closely, Mr. Rivale," Maria said, locking eyes with the defendant. "My name is Coldstare. Prosecutor Maria Coldstare. Understand?"

"Hmph, whatever," Eric said, looking up at the ceiling.

"And you," Maria shifted her gaze to Tremblin. "This case will not be dismissed for anything. So defend your client, or just plead guilty."

"R-right," Tremblin said meekly.

"So, does the defense actually have a case?" Maria said, crossing her arms. "Is there even a shred of doubt that the defendant didn't murder Officer Vencherd? With the gun that has his fingerprints all over it?"

"Well, um…." Tremblin began to fidget, thinking as hard as he could. "What if the defendant handed the gun to someone else and they killed the victim?"

"Only the defendant's prints were on the gun," Maria said.

"The killer could've been wearing gloves," Tremblin said.

"That would've at least smudged the defendant's fingerprints."

"Those prints are seven years old. Can anyone really vouch for how clear they were that day?" Tremblin said.

"Probably, but it isn't worth debating," Maria said. She cleared her throat, her eyes glazing over. "I can confirm that the defendant shot the gun."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather take some medicine?" Tremblin said.

"The position of the fingerprints," Maria said, completely ignoring the defense attorney's comment. "Based on their position, you can determine how a person held something. The defendant definitely held the handle of the gun as one would if they were to fire it. Most telling, however, is the print on the trigger."

"There's a fingerprint on the trigger?" Tremblin said, losing an ounce of confidence.

"Well, part of a fingerprint," Maria said. "And in case you're wondering, the partial print matches up with Mr. Rivale's right index finger. As much as it can, at least. And seeing how his prints are the only ones on the gun, I think it's rather obvious that it was the defendant who pulled the trigger."

"Um…." Tremblin stuttered. "That doesn't mean he shot the victim, necessarily."

"Then what did he shoot?" Maria said, grimacing. She leaned back against the wall behind her, putting a hand on her forehead.

"It was his gun, he could've shot a lot of things," Tremblin said.

"He has, with multiple firearms," Maria said. "I believe he used a revolver against Shinichi Kitaki."

"That's beside the point," Tremblin said, drumming his fingers against the desk.

Maria suddenly yawned. She quickly covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry, are we boring you?" Tremblin said. "Or perhaps you need a nap?"

"I think I can manage to stay conscious for the sake of the trial," Maria said dryly. "So…. where were we?"

"Your Honor, the prosecution can't even think straight anymore," Tremblin said. "The defense proposed the verdict be postponed-"

"Objection!" Maria snapped. "There will be no postponing. This ends today, I'm perfectly fit to prosecute!"

"Ms. Coldstare, I'm honestly not sure that you are…." The judge said.

Maria coughed again. "Your Honor, please focus on the case. You'll notice that the defense has no case whatsoever. Mr. Rivale murdered Officer Vencherd, there's no room for doubt. The defense has offered up mere possibilities, but presented no evidence that actually proves anything."

"The prosecution must be delusional!" Tremblin said.

"…. Stop talking," Maria said.

"Why should I?" Tremblin said.

"Present evidence," Maria said, clearing her throat. "Is there actually any evidence that the defendant is innocent? If so, show it to the court."

"Well, um…. Just let me think for a second," Tremblin said, looking through the court record.

"There's evidence…. motive…. and the defendant has no alibi…." Maria rasped. "This trial has gone on long enough, there's no reason to drag it out any further. The platform of the defense's case is nothing but hearsay and an active imagination."

"Hey, that was unnecessary!" Tremblin said.

"What's unnecessary is prolonging this trial any further," Maria said. "For the past ten minutes, the defense has done nothing but attempt to distract the courtroom from the fact that he has absolutely no case. Even if I were sick, it would be completely irrelevant as I've presented conclusive evidence and sound reasoning for the entire duration of this trial."

"I have to side with the prosecution on this point. Mr. Payne, does the defense have any evidence?" the judge said.

All eyes in the courtroom turned to Tremblin, an expectant silence consuming the atmosphere.

"I…. I…." Tremblin stuttered, his eyes darting around the room. "St-stop staring at me…."

"Pardon?" the judge said.

Tremblin began to fidget, a nervous sweat trickling down his face. "Stop staring, everyone…. P-please…."

The defense attorney covered his face. "Stop staring!"

That next moment, the lawyer disappeared.

"Um, Mr. Payne?" the judge said. "Where did he go?"

"I believe he's hiding under his desk," Eric said exasperatedly, raking his fingers through his hair.

"Oh. Alright then," the judge said. "I suppose that settles it then, in a way."

"Yeah," Eric muttered.

"Finally…." Maria said under her breath, a faint smile on her lips.

"…. You really hate me, don't you?" Eric said, facing Maria.

The brunette prosecutor looked at Eric, her smile gone. "Why do you care?"

"…. It doesn't matter. Forget I said anything, Ms. Coldstare," Eric said, looking up at the ceiling. "Just give me the verdict."

"Ah, yes," the judge said. "This court finds the defendant, Eric Rivale, guilty."

* * *

Miles walked across the courthouse lobby, his maroon coat causing him to stick out among the dull, dark business suits surrounding him. He weaved through the sea of lawyers darting to their trials, something he had become rather accustomed to over the years. Maintaining a dignified, purposeful stride, he soon reached the other end of the lobby and started down a hallway. The crowd of people quickly thinned out until he was eventually the only person in sight.

He stopped in front of one of the many doors lining the hallway, labeled "Waiting Room #3", and knocked. Several moments passed, but no one answered.

_Let me guess…. _Miles opened the door and stepped inside. The waiting room was decorating just like every other room in the courthouse, with a simple potted plant, painting and sofa in the corner. Curled up on the sofa was a woman in a black suit, hugging her organizer.

"Heh, I knew it," Miles said to himself, smirking.

He walked up to Maria and knelt down, gently shaking her shoulder. "Maria, wake up."

The ill prosecutor said nothing.

"Come now, Maria. You can't stay here all day," Miles said, shaking slightly harder.

Maria's eyelids fluttered open, her gaze slowly regaining focus. "Miles?"

"Can you stand?" Miles said.

"Of course," Maria said, already sitting up.

She stood up and immediately began coughing.

"Maria?" Miles said.

Maria cleared her throat. "Yes?"

"You're sick."

Rubbing her eyes, the brunette prosecutor leaned against her boyfriend. "I know…."

Miles put his arm around her, leading her towards the door. "Come on. Let's get you home, Sparrow."


	2. Chapter 2

**_Here we go, Chapter Two! I hope you enjoy it, expect a ton of fluff these next few chapters! And… that's all I have to say about this chapter! Reviews appreciated!_**

* * *

"I'm not that sick," Maria said.

"Maria, you're can't stand without me holding you up," Miles said.

Miles carefully lead Maria down the walkway to her home, supporting her the whole way. The brunette prosecutor felt around her purse, searching for her house key.

"I can, you just won't let me," Maria said, eyelids fluttering back open.

"That's because the last time I let you go your knees buckled and you nearly fell onto a flowerbed outside the courtroom," Miles said.

"I tripped," Maria said.

"Over what? Your other foot?"

"You have."

"Not important."

The two prosecutors stopped in front of the door and Maria unlocked it. Opening the door, they walked through and entered her living room.

"Thank you for taking me home, Miles," Maria said, separating herself from the maroon clad prosecutor. "I'm sure you have work to do, so if you don't mind please let yourself out."

"I'm not leaving," Miles said.

"What?" Maria said, raising an eyebrow.

"Someone has to take care of you," Miles stated matter-of-factly.

"No, actually, I can take care of myself."

"You've done a wonderful job so far."

"I was busy."

"And now you're taking a break."

Gently, Miles led her over to her sofa and she sat down.

"I'm going back to work tomorrow," Maria said softly, leaning to the side and resting her head on a pillow.

"Mm-hm," Miles said, watching her quickly dose off. "We'll see about that."

* * *

Gentle waves embraced the sides of jagged rocks protruding from the ocean's surface. The soft, soothing sound was the only thing to be heard for miles, and the only sight to be seen from any direction, save the dark sky above. The night sky was a pure ink black, speckled with bright stars and a waning moon.

Maria looked up to the stars, floating on the ocean's surface. She was calm, taking in the serenity of ripples in the water, letting the water cradle her and slowly rock her back and forth. Normally she didn't care for such instability, but somehow this was okay. Pleasant, even. _Perhaps I'm finally outgrowing that old neurosis. I'm perfectly fine._

The sound of the water slowly grew louder, and she felt the ripples beneath her become bigger. Her body went up and down rhythmically, and she sensed that she was gradually moving away from her original location. _No matter. I'm in no danger. _She did her best to ignore the anxiety blossoming inside her and the ripples turned into small waves. _There's nothing to worry about._

Just then, she heard a faint whisper. "You've grown, Maria."

All at once, everything around her succumbed to chaos. The waves instantly grew massive and powerful, flinging the brunette around like rag doll. With no choice but to submit to mercy of the ocean, Maria wrapped her arms over her chest and prepared for the worst. A wave picked her up again and she fell back onto the water, face down. She brought herself upright again only to come face to face with yet another wave, forcing her under. Panicking, she fought the current pulling her under and pushed to the surface, only to be met with an even stronger wave. She felt herself getting weaker, but forced herself to keep going. She needed to breathe. Time and time again she failed to reach the surface, the underwater current whipping her every which way until she had completely lost her sense of direction.

She took a moment to reorient herself, and that was when she began to sense another presence lurking nearby. Chills ran down her spine, and she immediately resumed her vain attempt to escape. Once again, the current overpowered her and sent her tumbling back down. A gentle hand slowly caressed her neck and ran its fingers down her shoulder. Maria hurriedly scanned the ocean for the source of the ominous touch. She turned around and found herself staring into the malicious, soulless eyes of a siren. Locks of fiery red hair moved with the current, flickering back and forth with hideous grace. Paralyzed with fear, Maria did nothing as the creature took her hand and led her into the dark depths of the ocean. Without warning, the siren made a sharp left turn and the limp Maria was ricocheted forward like whip. The siren didn't let go, and continued dragging Maria though the water in spirals and jagged turns. It took all her willpower to hang onto the last bit of breath she had in her lungs.

The auburn siren turned back to her toy and smiled, clearly enjoying her agony and torment. She quickly flipped Maria upside down and back up again, or maybe it was side to side. The helpless brunette really had no way of knowing. There seemed to be no end in sight to the creature's torture. Maria didn't know if she was trying to drown her or drive her mad with the uncontrollable movement, all she knew was that her hatred for the siren was steadily outgrowing every emotion in her, even her fear. Somehow, it gave her the strength to reach her free hand forward and grab the siren's hair. She pulled herself forward and locked eyes with the siren, who slowed down but didn't stop. Smiling, the creature delicately brushed her long, bony fingers against Maria's chin, as if goading her to make her move. Confused, angry and desperate, Maria did the only thing she could think of.

She opened her mouth, and let her final breath escape just so she could scream, "I hate you!"

* * *

Maria opened her eyes and shot upright, gripping the blanket over her chest for dear life. She took in deep, shaky breathes, taking in as much air as she could. Her heartbeat was the only thing moving faster than her racing thoughts as she tried to reorient herself.

"Maria, are you okay?"

She responded with a scream and shuffled away from the shadowy figure next to her sofa. The figure reached a hand out and leaned closer, until finally Maria could make out his facial features in the darkness.

"Maria, it's me," Miles said. "It's okay."

Her screaming stopped, leaving her throat dry and scratchy. She coughed into her sleeve, and eventually the irritation subsided. Calmer, but still confused, the brunette prosecutor looked around the room as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of her living room. She noticed a pillow and Miles' coat on the floor, and finally the memories of the day before came flooding back.

She looked back at the dusky haired prosecutor. "You slept here?"

Miles tilted his head to the side, not expecting the question. "Erm, yes. I said I was going to take care of you."

"On the floor?"

"I didn't see a guest room," Miles said, shrugging his shoulders. "Of course, I didn't look too hard. It felt wrong to snoop while you were asleep."

"I see…" Maria said. She coughed into her sleeve again.

"Now then, enough distractions," Miles said, putting his arm around her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Maria said, silently appreciating the reassuring warmth. "Just…. a fever dream."

"Do you…. want to talk about it?" Miles said.

"No," Maria said softly, pushing the memories of the dream out of her mind.

* * *

The next morning, Maria awoke on her couch once again. She stretched her arms out to the sides, loosening her stiffened muscles. It didn't help very much, however, she still felt sore and weak all over her body. She found herself experiencing the conflicting thoughts that she'd feel better if she laid back down and knowing she would be uncomfortable no matter how she positioned herself. Deciding she'd had enough rest for the time being, she slipped on her glasses, stood up and gently stretched her limbs.

"Ah, you're up."

Maria flinched, instantly forgetting her fatigue as she swiped something off her coffee table to defend herself with. Miles stood in the entryway to the kitchen, taken aback. The brunette prosecutor relaxed once she recognized him.

"You don't have company very often, do you?" Miles said, quickly regaining his composure. "Furthermore, I don't think that pen in your hand is going to be of much use to you in the event of an attack."

Cheeks coloring, she looked down at her hand realized that her weapon was indeed a pen. She placed it back down on the coffee table and brushed back a lock of her hair.

"Heh," Miles shook his head with a smirk.

Maria crossed her arms, trying to look as dignified as possible. Having Miles insist on taking care of her felt strange. She had gotten sick before meeting him and never required any assistance, this time was no different. Not to mention, it was difficult to adjust to having him around after living alone for so many years. _Does he always have to catch me off guard like that? And then there's that smug grin…._

"Anyway, there's soup if you're hungry," Miles said, and Maria noticed the bowl in his hands.

_… __And then there's that. _"You made soup?"

"It seemed like the proper selection for someone under the weather," Miles said, placing the bowl on the coffee table. "I must admit, I don't cook very often. Does it taste alright?"

Maria wasn't very hungry, but it seemed rude not to at least try it. Plus she was curious. Miles never struck her as someone who knew his way around a kitchen, but perhaps she had been mistaken. She carefully picked up the bowl, got some of the soup in her spoon, and lifted the steaming liquid to her lips. It was chicken noodle, she noted, as the soup slid down her throat. It felt nice, until the taste set in. _Hm. That doesn't taste right…._

"Something wrong?" Miles said.

_The noodles taste like rubber, it's bland as can be, and the chicken is burnt._

"…. Well, it could be that my sore throat is interfering with my sense of taste," Maria said unconvincingly, refusing to make eye contact.

"Let's test that theory," Miles said, taking the spoon and tasting his creation for himself. He raised an eyebrow. "This…."

"Tastes like death?" Maria offered, smirking.

"Erm, I wouldn't go that far," Miles said, rubbing his arm shyly. "I don't understand, you can't even taste the sugar."

"Sugar?" Maria said.

"The recipe I followed said to add sugar," Miles said. "Something about enhancing flavor."

"Miles, I ran out of sugar days ago," Maria said.

"What?" Miles recoiled. "But it must've been sugar. I know it wasn't salt."

"Was it in a blue container?" Maria said.

"Yes…." Miles said.

"That was flour," Maria said, amused.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Jeez, this took longer than I thought it would. Life is distracting. XD_**

**_Alright, so, this is an author's note. I should probably note something about the story I'm authoring. It's about time to get things going, I think, so that's what I shall do. And be get things going, I mean integrate more characters but continue with a bunch of fluffy stuff because more fluffy stuff was my biggest request in the last story. So, my lovely readers, prepare for a bunch of fluff! It's gonna be like a pillow was thrown in your face and you landed in a sea of kittens! I…. I don't know. X)P_**

**_Welp, I hope you enjoy the chapter! Feel free to leave a review, let me know if you liked it, give me some advice, take your frustration out on me, anything you want! I listen! :D_**

* * *

Miles locked his car door and walked through the parking lot to the Prosecutors Building. Being Chief Prosecutor didn't required him to come to work earlier than his employees, as some might think, but he liked to set a good example. As a prosecutor he had been known to come to work early anyway. It was why he had stopped sleeping on Maria's floor after the first night, it simply wasn't convenient for either of them and Maria didn't need constant assistance. She would insist that she didn't require any assistance at all, and that might've been true, but Miles couldn't just leave her. It didn't seem right.

As he strode through the lot, he heard a car come in from behind him. He stuck to the side of the lot, for safety reasons, as the car passed him and parked in an empty spot. He heard the driver turn off the ignition and step out of their car. When he saw who the driver was, he decided to say hello.

"Going somewhere?" Miles said.

"Hello, Miles," Maria said dryly.

"Are you truly well?" Miles said.

"I'm quite alright, I'll have you know," Maria said, crossing her arms. "Certainly well enough to return to work."

To make her point, the brunette prosecutor spun in a quick circle. "See? No vertigo. I'm fine."

_She does appear to be healthier…._

"Miles, I'm behind on work," Maria said.

"Actually, I've been looking through everyone's records. Instead of being ahead of everything, you're just on time now," Miles said.

"It sounds like I have things to do then," Maria said, pacing towards the lobby entrance.

_She's fine._ Miles smirked to himself, catching up with Maria so that they could walk side by side.

They chatted about small things, most of them work related. The brunette prosecutor wanted to make sure she was completely caught up on business. There wasn't much to tell though. Gossip was rampant throughout the office, but prosecutors mostly kept to themselves when it came to actual work. Most of the information was either classified or just not very interesting.

The prosecutors walked past the elevators and started up the stairs. Miles knew that Maria only took the stairs because of him. He once told her that she didn't have to, but she insisted on it anyway. It was a healthy habit to have anyway, she had said. He still felt a hint of guilt when she looked tired, but he appreciated her company too much to say anything further. Walking up the stairs by himself wasn't lonely by any means, he enjoyed solitude in fact. He enjoyed walking next to Maria even more though, even if they weren't doing anything more than that. The dusky haired prosecutor glanced at his partner, admiring her face. She was currently reading her organizer, probably trying to decide which criminal on her list to lock up next. Despite being completely absorbed in the text before her, she never missed a step as she walked up the stairs. He saw that she had touched up her face with a little make up. She never wore too much, just enough to accent what Miles considered to be her already beautiful features. It was one of those little things he noticed every time he looked at her.

Miles thought back to something his father had once said. His mother had died when he was young, so young that his only memories of her were photographs and stories his father told him. When he was nine and dealing with the odd feelings that came from having a crush on a classmate, he had asked his father why he married his mother. _"Because she was interesting. Any woman can be pretty, smart, and nice; and your mother was all those things of course. But she was also interesting, no matter what we were doing. And that was why I married her, because I knew I could wake up to her face every day and it would never get old. Miles, when you're older, make sure you find a girl who interests you."_

Maria looked up from her reading and faced Miles, having felt his gaze on her. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Miles said, smirking to himself. _You would've liked her, Father. She's certainly interesting._

They soon reached the 12th floor and walked down the hallway towards their offices. Miles saw a group of girls up ahead, all in distinctive clothing. One wore a lab coat and held a bag overstuffed with beakers and vials, the girl to her left wore a decorative key in her unique ponytail. Another girl wore a bright yellow business suit with a skirt, and the fourth girl had a blue cape and top hat to match. The girl with the key turned her head and grinned when she noticed the approaching prosecutors.

"Edgeworth, Coldstare, hi!" Kay said, waving at them. The other girls turned to face them as well.

"Good morning, girls," Miles said.

"Ms. Coldstare, how are you feeling?" Ema said.

"I'm alright, Detective Skye," Maria said, looking up from her binder. "I trust you've stayed busy these past few days?"

"Yes, believe it or not I don't goof off every time you turn your back," Ema said, giving a sly smile. "As a matter of fact, I just left a stack of test results and evidence reports on your desk."

"Excellent," Maria said, nodding her head.

"I repeat: Coldstare, hi," Kay said.

"Oh, of course. Hello, Kay, Trucy, and…." Maria trailed off, staring at the ginger girl dressed in yellow.

"Silly girl, introduce yourself!" the voice seemed to come from the girl, but her mouth never moved.

"Oh, sorry," the girl said, running her fingers through her ponytail. "Widget likes to speak my thoughts sometimes. My name is Athena. You're Ms. Coldstare, right? Ema was just telling me about you."

"Yes, I'm Ms. Coldstare. Maria Coldstare. It's nice to meet you, Athena," Maria said. She clearly had a million questions running through her mind.

"Ms. Cykes is a lawyer at Wright's agency," Miles said. "I would've introduced you earlier, but Wright kept her incredibly busy the past few months."

"Hehe, you got that right," Athena said. "This is my first time seeing the Prosecutors Building. It's so big!"

"I know, right?" Trucy said. "I remember when Daddy first took me here when I was little. I was so sure we would get lost!"

_That didn't stop you from running around the halls every time Wright turned his back. _Miles smirked, recalling the many comical chase scenes between the little girl and her newly appointed Daddy.

Athena laughed, and her necklace turned green.

"What a unique necklace," Maria said.

"Thank you! This is Widget, she changes color with my mood," Athena said, proud of her little gadget.

"And… reads your mind?" Maria said.

"Other people's minds too, actually. Well, their moods anyway," Athena said.

"How does, erm, she read minds exactly?" Maria said.

"Simple," Athena said, touched the hi-tech necklace. A holographic screen materialized in front of the young lawyer and she sorted through the options as Maria stared in disbelief. "Let's see here…. You're pretty surprised right now, huh? I get that one a lot when I show this to people. You're also nervous, why's that?"

"Forgive me if I'm not too eager to have my mind read by someone else," Maria said, brushing a lock of hair out of her face.

"Thinking something dirty?" Athena said, grinning.

"No, I am not," Maria said, her face turning red.

"Hehe, I was just kidding," Athena said, and the screen disappeared. "Sorry to make you uncomfortable, I just thought a quick demo would be the fastest way to explain things."

"It's fine," Maria said, completely expressionless.

"What are the four of you doing here anyway?" Miles said, sensing Maria would prefer the topic shift.

"As I said, I was just dropping off some papers," Ema said.

"I was going to give you guys invitations to my next show!" Trucy said, posing. "Athena came with me to see the building."

"I ran into them when they came in and thought I'd give them a tour," Kay said. She brushed a finger against the bottom of her nose in a prideful way only she could pull off. "I figured it was my responsibility as a prosecutor."

Kay had passed the bar exam right after finishing law school. She already had a couple successful trials under her belt and was quickly showing to be a promising attorney. Her determination and relentless pursuit of the truth made her a fierce adversary in the courtroom. The only person prouder of her than her was Miles.

"Ah, of course," Miles said. "I assume you're on top of your work then?"

"Don't worry about it, I've got all week to finish that!" Kay said.

Miles raised an eyebrow. "It's Friday."

"Which is why it's basically finished," Kay said without missing a beat.

"Uh-huh," Miles said. "I suppose I'll be seeing you later today with those papers then."

"Obviously," Kay said, crossing her arms and smiling.

"Wonderful," Miles said. "You said something about a show, Trucy?"

"Yeah, it's next week!" Trucy said. "I left invitations on your desks with more details."

"I will be sure to read it," Miles said. "Carry on, girls."

The girls each said their goodbyes and continued on their tour. Maria and Miles carried on until they reached their respective offices and stepped inside. Miles closed his office door and sat behind his desk. The first thing to catch his eye was a small envelope placed in the middle of the desktop with his name written in fancy, loopy letters. _This must be Trucy's invitation._

Miles picked it up gently, examining it from every angle like it was evidence from a crime scene. The young magician didn't hand out these invitations purely for business purposes. She liked to get creative and often added tricks. Those who received them often referred to them as pop-up cards, because even when you knew there would be a trick, it managed to catch you off guard anyway. One time his invitation had caught fire when he opened it, burning his left bang off. He made sure to have Phoenix talk to her about that. Since then the surprise inside cards hadn't been flammable, but still a shock. She didn't rig the cards every time though, leaving the recipients to wonder when the next trick would come.

_Hmm…. I don't see any bulges that would suggest there's more than just a card. But then, she has a gift for keeping things hidden. I'll never understand how she hides her Mr. Hat character…._

He put the envelope down. _It's a trap. I can feel it in my gut. I'm not opening it._

All of a sudden, he heard a sharp pop followed by a yelp from Maria.

"Hmph," Miles smirked to himself. _I suppose there are many girls in my life that would be considered interesting._


	4. Chapter 4

**_Yikes, this took longer than I meant for it to. So sorry! I would flood this author's note with an array of excuses for my procrastination, but that would require procrastinating even more! Time to sit with my laptop, drink coffee with so much cream Godot would cry if he drank it, and get writing already! Here we go! _**

**_So, something I should say upfront so certain details make more sense. I have a personal theory that Phoenix grew up in the country. I mean, think about it. It's suggested he used to go out cow tipping. He went to what we can assume was a relatively small school, with several aspects that match that of a stereotypical rural town elementary school. Heck, he even said "Aw shucks" at one point! So yeah, that's my theory._**

**_Enjoy the story, and please leave a review! Hearing your feedback always plasters a big grin on my face and fuels my author flames! Thank you to the ends of the earth and back!_**

With a gentle breeze to her back, Maria strode down the sidewalk with Miles at her side. It was a rather warm spring day, making the cool breath of air a welcome sensation. She had unbuttoned her black jacket and put her brunette hair in a ponytail to keep from getting too warm. Miles, on the other hand, hadn't altered his attire in the slightest.

_No wonder he prefers winter. _Maria thought to herself, taking note of his heavy overcoat and ghostly pale skin. _It must be the only time of year he doesn't feel like he's in an oven._

"What is it?" Miles said.

Maria suddenly noticed the smirk that had crept onto her face. She shook her head derisively. "Miles, love, have you noticed you're the only person in the area with a coat?"

The dusky haired prosecutor shrugged his shoulders. "So?"

"Aren't you hot?" Maria said.

"It's a hot day."

_Not really. _"Then why did you wear your coat?"

"I'd look half-dressed without it."

"No you wouldn't," Maria said. "You'd actually look rather classy if you took it off."

"And do what with it?" Miles said. "Tie it around my waist like a hoodlum? That would be bad for my appearance and the fabric."

"Why not just drape it over your shoulders?" Maria said, amused.

"I suppose I never considered that," Miles said.

"Just try it," Maria said.

He shed his thick, maroon coat and threw it over his shoulders like a cloak. The soft tailwind pressed the fabric against his back and the loose sleeves swayed gently.

"Better?" Maria said.

"It is comfortable," Miles said.

"Good," Maria said. _You look handsome like that._

The prosecutors stopped in front of a coffee shop, the reason they were walking down the street in the first place. The shop also served tea, which they both preferred. Miles opened the door for Maria, being the gentleman he was, and they went inside. The atmosphere inside the shop was warm and the scent of freshly brewed coffee was prominent throughout the room. People everywhere were talking and drinking whatever brew they ordered. There was a bit of a line, but thankfully it only took a few minutes for the prosecutors to place their orders. All that was left was to wait around for their drinks.

With nothing better to do, Maria leaned against Miles and began people watching. Nobody in particular caught her interest; that is until her sights landed on a familiar face. As if feeling her gaze lock onto him, the spiky haired man turned around. His tomcat-ish friend turned as well.

"Edgey, Coldy, long time no see!" Larry said, walking over to the prosecutor pair.

Miles flinched, caught off guard by the voice calling him by his childhood nickname. Maria resisted the urge to cringe. She wasn't sure how she felt about being called "Coldy".

"What are you guys doing here?" Phoenix said.

"Well, Wright, we're in a coffee shop amongst others drinking and/or waiting for a beverage," Miles said. "Keeping that in mind, what's the most probable conclusion you can deduce?"

"Good to see you too," Phoenix said, rolling his eyes.

"Come on, Edgey, give Nick a break! It was an innocent question!" Larry said. "Don't be so rude in front of your girlfriend."

The lady in question took her glasses off and began polishing the lens, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. She had been in a relationship with Miles for a while, there was no question that they were more than just friends. It still felt awkward whenever someone brought it up though. She wasn't embarrassed, she just preferred to keep such personal affairs private.

"Of course," Miles said.

"So do you guys plan on staying here or do you have somewhere to be?" Phoenix said.

"This is just a break. Some of us have jobs with an actual schedule," Miles said.

"Hey, I have a work schedule too," Larry said. "I'm a bartender now."

"What happened to your job as a taxi driver?" Miles said.

"I, uh, kept getting lost…." Larry said, smiling and playing with his jacket sleeve.

Miles sighed.

"What was that for? I'd like to see you try to memorize this entire city! All the streets look the same, especially at night!" Larry said, gritting his teeth.

"He's got a point," Phoenix said. "That's why I don't drive."

"What was stopping you before you lived here?" Miles said. "If memory serves, the country roads should've been fairly simple to navigate."

"Well yeah, I had a license back then," Phoenix said. "I just didn't renew it when I moved."

"I thought you lost your license," Larry said, crossing his arms.

"Is that so?" Miles said. "Wright, you never mentioned this."

"I don't know what he's talking about," Phoenix said.

"You don't remember?" Larry said. "Nick, that was the coolest thing you had ever done! You know, until you got caught."

"What did he do?" Miles said, amused.

"He drove 160 miles an hour down a highway," Larry said.

"You did what?" Miles said, shocked.

There wasn't anyone else around," Phoenix said defensively. "Except for the cop hiding on the side of the road…."

"Wright…." Miles rested his face in his palm, weary.

"I was 17, Larry was egging me on, I had to try it," Phoenix said. "Everyone was young and reckless at some point."

"Nick, you're starting to sound like an old man again," Larry said. "I, for one, am still young and reckless."

"Young and immature don't always mean the same thing, Larry," Miles said under his breath.

"I heard that!" Larry said.

Maria watched the three men interact, fascinated. _This is the most bizarre trio I have ever encountered. _

Just then, the barista called out Miles' name.

"I'll be right back," Miles said, walking off.

The brunette prosecutor adjusted her glasses, unsure what to say. Normally she wouldn't care about casual chitchat, but she felt obligated to talk to her partner's close childhood friends. Plus, she had left her organizer in her office, so she didn't have her usual escape.

"Dang it," Larry said to himself.

"What?" Phoenix said.

"I thought that blond chick over there was looking at me," Larry said, gesturing across the room.

"The one in the orange top?" Phoenix said.

"Yeah," Larry said.

"Larry, she's not even looking in this direction," Phoenix said.

"She was a second ago," Larry said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, that again," Phoenix said.

"Hm?" Maria said.

"Another girl checking out Edgey," Larry said. "Gets me every time, drives me crazy."

"Interesting," Maria said, her tone and expression completely emotionless. "Does this happen often?"

"All the time, it's insane," Larry said.

"Edgeworth is completely oblivious though," Phoenix added, sensing his companion was about to get their friend in hot water. "He never notices."

"Yeah, it's weird," Larry said. "You'd think after so many times it's happened he'd catch on, but it's like he's incapable of seeing attractive women."

Phoenix just shook his head in defeat.

"I see," Maria said.

Miles came back with a cup in each hand. He handed one to Maria and took a sip out of the other.

"Thank you, Miles," Maria said. "So, Larry, you said you became a bartender recently, is that correct? How is that going?"

"So far so good!" Larry said.

The conversation continued on seamlessly, though Maria didn't pay much attention. She couldn't look away from the woman across the room, who couldn't keep her eyes off of Miles. Internally, she chastised herself. _What am I doing? This is ridiculous, she's just looking at him. He hasn't even noticed her…. How is that? She's not being subtle in the slightest. Is he that unaware of his surroundings? And what about her? I'm standing right here._

She took Miles hand. He looked at her, as if wondering what her reason was, but she merely took another sip of her tea. The maroon clad prosecutor went back to his conversation, and Maria returned to watching the woman in orange. Much to Maria's annoyance, the woman either hadn't caught on that Miles was taken or didn't care. She decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and say she hadn't noticed. To counter this, Maria swung Miles' and her arms back and forth gently. Unfortunately, all that did was confuse Miles further. The woman had yet to recognize Maria's existence.

_Alright, she's deliberately ignoring, that has to be the case. _She glanced at Miles, who still hadn't figured out that there was a woman staring at him. _Although, I suppose there are some rather clueless people in the world…._

She let go of Miles' hand. _It doesn't matter. She's not going to approach Miles, we'll probably never even see her again. And even then, I doubt Miles would take interest in someone with no concept of discretion. Not to mention she looks half dressed. He wouldn't give her a second glance, the fact that I'm spending another second thinking about this woman is pathetic._

Taking a deep breath, she finally tore her eyes away from the woman and back to the group she was with. _I don't care. She can look all she wants. She's just looking at him after all. Completely harmless. Stop thinking about her._

She looked at the woman again, who was still fixated on Miles. _What on Earth is her problem? Is she even blinking?_

Maria brushed a lock of hair out of her face. _I don't care._

The woman took a sip of her coffee, all the tension Maria didn't realize was in her muscles finally relaxed. _About time._

Putting the cup of coffee down, the woman resumed admiring the classy prosecutor with the coat hanging off his shoulders.

"That's it!" Maria exclaimed. She grabbed Miles by the cravat around his neck and pulled him into a kiss.

Eventually, she let go and took a step back. Miles' bright red face expressed pure bewilderment. The brunette prosecutor looked around the room, happy to see that the blond woman had found something out a nearby window to focus on. Miles, Phoenix, Larry and everyone else in the room, on the other hand, all had their eyes on her. She took another sip of her tea, avoiding eye contact with all of them.

"We should get back to work," Maria said, heading for the door.

"Er…. Right," Miles said.


	5. Chapter 5

**_I'm sorry._**

* * *

Miles walked up the stairs of the Prosecutors Building, grasping the handle of a briefcase in his right hand. He had just returned from a board meeting with some of the other higher ups in the criminal justice department. It was about as interesting as any other board meeting, meaning no one could get out of the conference room fast enough when it ended. Miles didn't mind though, he lived for office work. Although, there was no replacing the exhilaration of unearthing the truth in a courtroom, which was why he had never given the idea of a promotion much thought when he was younger. As time went by though, he realized that as Chief Prosecutor he could make more of a difference. Not just by locking away criminals and protecting victims, but by influencing the entire legal system. Perhaps he was being a little too idealistic thinking he could completely purge the corruption out of law, but it was an ideal worth pursuing.

_This new Jury System certainly has potential. Criminals are getting smarter, rarely do they leave behind fingerprints or DNA samples anymore. Some can even use the police's investigation methods to their advantage. Such criminals need to be combated with a more old fashioned form of deduction, the kind they can't cheat their way through._

_I wonder what Maria would think of this. _Since there were no official plans to make the change, only the people directly involved had any knowledge of it. There had been a couple trial runs to test the idea out, but everyone had sworn to keep it secret until it was revealed to the public. They had to make sure all the details were ironed out before people started talking about it. The legal system was already looked down upon as it was, they couldn't have the newspapers finding the flaws in the new system before they did. While he was often tempted to let Maria in the loop, they had agreed when he was promoted that she shouldn't receive any special treatment simply because she was dating her boss. It was best to keep things as professional as possible.

He soon reached the top of the stairs and started down the hallway. Just before he reached his office, the door next to it opened and a tall brunette walked out with a purse and a binder. She closed and locked the door behind her before facing Miles.

"Hello, Miles," Maria said with a smile.

She hugged her black organizer against her chest, gazing at the dusky haired prosecutor with bright green eyes. Miles just looked at her, smiling back. _I'm lucky she's so professional. Sometimes I fear if she ever asked, she'd know everything she's not supposed to and then some._

"Hello. Where are you off to?" Miles said.

"Meeting Detective Skye to pursue a lead we're investigating," Maria said.

"Off to the police station then?" Miles said.

"Actually, just a few blocks down the street. Skye should be waiting for me there," Maria said.

"Ah. Best not keep her waiting then. You'll have to tell me more about it later," Miles said. "Perhaps over dinner?"

Maria brushed a lock of hair away from her face. "That sounds nice."

"Wonderful," Miles said, masking the nerves constricting his chest. Even after all this time, he still couldn't shake off the nervous anticipation that he was just about to say something foolish.

"I look forward to it," Maria said. "Goodbye, Miles."

He wasn't sure why, but he kissed her forehead and gently embraced her. It just felt right.

Miles stepped back. "Goodbye, Sparrow."

A faint tinge of color spread across Maria's face as she walked away. Miles took his keys out of his coat pocket and unlocked the door to his office.

* * *

Miles was hunched over his desk, filing paperwork. The board meeting from earlier had ended with everyone getting homework to sign and file. He put a finished document on top of a short stack on the left hand side of his desk and took a sip of tea. Since coming back to his office, the most eventful moment had been discovering a fly had somehow snuck into his office. Rather than chase it around, he just opened the large picture window behind him so it could find its way out and returned to his desk.

He took another sip of tea, set the cup down and grabbed a sheet of paper from the much larger stack of papers on his right, his unfinished pile. He read the contents to himself, absorbing the information and checking for anything that didn't seem right. So far, everything seemed to be in order.

That was when he heard a woman scream. With a jolt, he dropped the document in his hand and felt his heart sink. He recognized that voice. He wished more than anything to be mistaken, but he knew he wasn't.

Miles sprang out of his chair and looked out the window. Twelve stories below, in an alleyway, he recognized Maria pressed against the building's wall. Mere feet away was another figure, one he didn't recognize. He felt a wave of pure, electrifying fear when he saw light reflect off a small object in the figure's hand. A weapon.

"Maria!" Miles shouted, sprinting out of his office as soon as the name was spoken.

He ran down the office as quickly as he could, ignoring the sense of dread weighing in his chest. _I have to reach her!_

Nearing the end of the hallway, he came to the screeching halt and pressed the elevator button. When the door didn't immediately open, he bolted down the stairs.

His burgundy coat fluttered behind him as he charged down the staircase as quickly as he could. Everything was a blur as he put all his energy into going faster. He might've been taking the stairs two at a time, but he wasn't sure. He didn't care. All he could focus on was making it outside. He desperately clung to the faint hope that he could get there before it was too late. He had too. It didn't matter whether it was possible, he just had too.

Miles grabbed onto the side rail to swing himself around the corner without losing momentum. He stayed in the air for a moment, but his legs never stopped moving. Only half of his foot made it onto the step below him, and the lack of balance caused him to tumble forward. He scrambled to get upright, clawing his way up the wall just in the time to turn the next corner. Ignoring the fatigue in his legs and pain throughout his body, he pushed forward with every ounce of strength. _I have to make it. I can't slow down. Maria…._

After what felt like an eternity, he finally saw the ground floor lobby. He ran to the front door, pushing through anyone that stood in his way without a thought. _Almost there…. I'm coming, Maria…._

He burst through the doorway and made a sharp left turn to the alleyway. Miles stopped at the entryway, and his soul shattered.

At his feet was Maria, lying face up on the ground. Her skin was pale as a wisp of smoke. The expression on her face was peaceful, as if she were asleep. Only there was also an eeriness to it, hollow and lifeless. The handle of a knife protruded from her chest, and blood soaked her clothing.

"No…." Miles whispered. Giving into the fatigue, he fell to his knees and stared at Maria in shock.

He barely noticed the crowd streaming out from the Prosecutor's Building. Their cries of shock and confusion felt like distant murmurs to Miles, drowned out by the ringing in his ears. _Maria…._

"What happened….?"

_Maria…._

"….. Someone call…."

_Maria…._

"Is she dead….?"

The numbness clouding Miles' mind snapped like a thread. He reached for Maria, bringing her into his embrace. Hot, painful tears seeped through his eyes as he took her frail hand in his own, feeling traces of warmth fade from her body. He held tighter, rubbing her fingers with his own as if to bring the warmth back. It wouldn't work, but he didn't care.

"Maria…." Miles whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry, Maria. Please don't go."

He brought his fingers to her wrist, feeling a slow, weak pulse. The last trace of her life. He pressed harder, listening to her heartbeat. Her angelic, melodic heartbeat. Feeling sick and tired, he laid next to his love, listening to her pulse as it grew weaker and weaker, until he couldn't hear it anymore.

* * *

Dressed in a simple, white gown, Maria lay still and peaceful. Miles stood by her side, hanging his head in agony and sorrow. One of the prosecutors had called an ambulance to take her to hospital. The doctors had done everything they could, they spent hours keeping her vitals functional. Despite all of that though, she never opened her eyes.

Miles looked at Maria. Even in this state, she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. Regret and remorse weighed down his heart, but he didn't cry. His eyes had dried hours ago. Now he was just empty inside, waiting to awaken from the nightmare he was trapped in. He wouldn't wake up though.

He brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I'm sorry, Maria. I should have saved you."

No matter how many times he apologized, it wouldn't make a difference. It wouldn't even be heard. Nor did it lighten the feelings of guilt that would haunt him for the rest of his life. _Why did this happen? I shouldn't have let it happen. Why did I let her go?_

Bittersweet memories flooded through his mind. He thought back to the time he'd gotten to spend with her. Debating trivial things, kissing in the elevator, taking the stairs together, drinking tea to stay awake at 3 in the morning because they both had paperwork to finish, everything. Though he'd only known her for a year, it felt like so much longer. Not long enough though. He'd never given much thought to the future, but he couldn't imagine going on without Maria. She was everything to him. No matter how much time went by, he would never let her go.

He knelt down to whisper in her ear. "I'm so sorry, Maria. I-"

_"I love you," Miles whispered._

_Maria wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips against his, bringing him into a gentle kiss. His initial shock at her sudden movement was numbed by her soft, warm touch. He caressed her face, running his fingers through her hair._

_They eventually broke away. Maria smiled, her cheek tinged pink, and rested her head on his shoulders._

_"I love you too," Maria said._

_Miles felt a weigh being lifted off his shoulders. He didn't even know what to think, he was just happy. Without saying another word, he hugged her closer._

_"But don't say something like that when you think I'm asleep," Maria said. "I want to hear it, so I can say it back."_

_Miles kissed her forehead and smiled. "Alright then, Sparrow. I promise."_

The dusky haired prosecutor looked at his girlfriend one more time, feeling another pang of sorrow. He sighed. "I…. I'll keep my promise."

Miles got back on his feet and walked towards the door. Before he left the hospital room, he looked back at Maria one more time.

"I will discover who did this to you, Maria. I swear on my father's grave, this criminal will not go unpunished. I don't know if you'll ever awaken from this coma, but if you do, you'll have nothing to fear ever again."


	6. Chapter 6

**_Alright, time for Chapter Six! Wow, I let time get away from me. Thousand apologies!_**

**_I don't really have anything to say about the chapter, I'll leave that up to all you reviewers out there! I hope you enjoy the chapter! You are so great! :D_**

* * *

Phoenix knocked on Miles' office door. In an hour, his daughter's latest magic show would begin. He hadn't missed a single one, and he planned to keep it that way. With any luck, he could get his friend to join him. _I haven't heard from Edgeworth in a couple days. He must be busy with something. Wouldn't be the first time. _

He waited for an answer, but none came. Phoenix knocked on the door again. "Edgeworth, it's me. I know you're in there."

"Go away, Wright," Miles answered from the other side of the door.

"I just wanted to see if you could go to Trucy's show," Phoenix said.

"No," Miles replied curtly.

"Why not?"

"I'm busy."

"Edgeworth, I know for a fact that you're always three weeks ahead of due dates. And I'm pretty sure every other prosecutor went home hours ago."

"Just go away."

"Is everything okay?" Phoenix said, sensing something was amiss.

"No, I'm being pestered by a needy toddler in a suit."

Phoenix sighed. _Insults. Yep, something's wrong. _The defense attorney opened the office door and stepped inside.

The darkness from outside cast shadows over everything in the dimly lit office, adding a dark shade of blue to the entire room and everything in it. A small lamp illuminated a mahogany desk with loose papers scattered all across the surface. Behind the desk sat Miles, you had yet to look up from the documents in front of him.

"You seem to have great difficulty understanding the concept of going away," Miles said, glaring at his paperwork.

"I read between the lines," Phoenix said. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I'm fine," Miles said, writing on a document.

"Then why can't you come with us?"

"I'm busy."

"Doing what?"

"None of your business."

"Edgeworth, at least look at me."

"No thanks."

"Why not?"

"I'm trying to focus, Wright."

"And I'm trying to have a conversation with you."

"I'm not interested."

"Hmph," Phoenix rolled his eyes. "I'm just offering a chance to have some fun."

"Not in the mood."

"I bet you'd go if Coldstare went."

Miles pushed down on his pen so hard he tore through the paper. He grit his teeth. "Maria won't be joining you."

Phoenix watched his friend for a moment, his expression softening. "Did something happen?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Wright," Miles said.

"Edgeworth, look at me," Phoenix said. "What happened?"

"Leave me alone," Miles said, gripping his pen so tight his knuckles turned white.

"Edgeworth," Phoenix said, taking the ripped paper. Miles grabbed the attorney's wrist.

"Give me that," Miles said harshly, still refusing to make eye contact.

"After you tell me what's wrong," Phoenix said. "Why can't Coldstare join us?"

Miles let go of Phoenix's wrist and turned his head to the side. "She just can't."

"Why?" Phoenix said, seeing that his friend was trembling.

Miles stood up, slamming his desk. "Because she's in a coma! Happy? She was attacked right outside this building, and it put her in a coma! No one knows what happened, who did it to her, or if she'll even wake up! And I have to solve this case if it's the last thing I do! So no, I don't have time to waste at a bar! Because for the tenth time, I'm busy! Alright?"

The prosecutor sunk back into his chair, raking his fingers through his shadowy hair. "Just go away."

Phoenix stared at him blanking, slowing absorbing what he just said. "Coldstare…. She was attacked?"

"That's what I said," Miles said dryly, his voice muffled from lying face down on the desk.

"Oh my gosh…." Phoenix said.

"I have to find out who did this to her," Miles said. "I know it won't bring her back, but that's beside the point. Whoever did this…. I can't let them get away with it. I owe Maria that much, seeing how I let them escape."

"This wasn't your fault," Phoenix said.

"Yes it was, Wright," Miles said. "It's because of me that she's in a hospital, half-dead."

"Did you attack her?" Phoenix said.

"No, but I'm still responsible."

"Coldstare wouldn't blame you."

"You don't know that. We may never know…."

Phoenix didn't know what to say. He looked so pitiful and defeated slumped over his desk. The tragic news saddened him as well, he considered Maria a friend. He knew it wasn't the same though.

"I wish there was something I could do," Phoenix said.

"There is," Miles said, locking eyes with the defense attorney. Steely resolve shone in his gaze. "I am going to catch the miserable cur that did this to Maria. I am going to exhaust every resource at my disposal to discover the truth behind this case. And when I'm absolutely positive I've found the right person, I will drag them to court. And when that happens, I want you to defend them."

"You…. what?" Phoenix was lost.

"I don't want there to be a shred of doubt that the person I accuse is guilty. I can't allow for there to be any chance that the real culprit got away," Miles said. "You're the only person I trust to catch any contractions in my logic. I've been wrong before. I can't afford to be wrong this time."

"…. Okay," Phoenix said, nodding. He smiled. "Whoever you arrest, I'll defend them with everything I've got. I promise."

"Thank you, Wright," Miles said. He didn't return the smile, but his stern expression lightened.

"Of course," Phoenix said. "I'll do you one better, I'll help you investigate. Anything you need, I'll do it."

"That's good to hear," Miles said, leaning back.

"So, any chance I can convince you to go out and let your hair down for one night?" Phoenix said.

"I doubt I'd be much fun to have around," Miles said.

"Not up for the being the life of the party you usually are?" Phoenix teased.

Miles raised an eyebrow.

"Forget it," Phoenix said, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Don't work too late, alright? I want you well rested for our investigation tomorrow."

"Same goes for you. I don't want to have to deal with you with a hangover," Miles said, returning to his paperwork.

"Heh, fair enough," Phoenix said, walking out the door.

* * *

Standing in the entrance of the Wonder Bar, Phoenix scanned the area for his group. It didn't take long to spot his brightly colored band across the room. Apollo, Athena, Ema and Larry were seated at a table, appearing to be deep in a conversation.

He walked over to the group and took a seat.

"Hey, guys. Edgeworth couldn't make it, something came up," Phoenix said.

"We know," Apollo said. "Ema already told us."

"Yeah," Ema said, taking a swig from a half empty bottle. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes glazed. It made Phoenix wonder how long she'd been at the bar.

"I can only imagine how Mr. Edgeworth is taking it," Athena said.

"Not well," Phoenix said.

"No surprise," Larry said. "I remember when my Cindy died. I was a wreck."

"Who's Cindy?" Athena said.

"My ex-girlfriend from a few years ago," Larry said. "Same thing happened to her. She was murdered."

"Ms. Coldstare was not murdered!" Ema snapped, drinking out of her bottle again. "She's still alive. Partially."

"I know, Ema," Apollo said, carefully sliding the almost empty bottle out of the detective's reach.

"Well, still, it's rough," Larry said. "Poor guy."

"Yeah, he can't stop blaming himself," Phoenix said.

"He couldn't have known this would happen," Athena said. "There's no way this could be his fault."

"Tell him that," Phoenix said. "He wouldn't listen to me."

"Well…. What if he is part of it?" Apollo said softly, looking down at the table.

"What are you talking about?" Phoenix said dubiously.

"I'm not saying it's his fault or anything, but couldn't someone have attacked Ms. Coldstare because she was his girlfriend?" Apollo said, clearly feeling uncomfortable for saying it. "I remember you telling me about all the crazy women he attracts. What if one of them was, you know, extra crazy?"

"That's…. actually a good point," Phoenix said, rubbing his chin. "And he is the Chief Prosecutor…. Plus he worked a lot of high profile cases…."

"Exactly, he'd have a lot of enemies" Apollo said. "I don't want to think he had anything to do with it, but when you consider the facts…."

"At this point, anything is possible," Phoenix said. "It's a good thing to keep in mind, but there's no evidence yet. So let's keep that idea to ourselves for now, okay? No need to give Edgeworth another reason to feel guilty right now."

"Right," Apollo said.

Phoenix sighed. _We'll get to the bottom of this, Edgeworth. Whoever did this will face justice. They'll pay for the hurt they caused. To Coldstare, and everyone else._


	7. Chapter 7

**_Holy stars, this took SO much longer than it should have! (Reader: "Yeah, I know, Captain Obvious.") I deeply apologize for taking this long, I don't know how I let time get away from me like this. Schoolwork and all that jazz. (Reader: "By 'jazz' do you mean Pokemon?" Me: "…. Are you spying on me?") So to make up for my absence, I decided to make the chapter extra long. Then it dawned on me; that would just take even longer! So instead, I'm going post a regular sized chapter, then I'll finish the second half sooner because I've already written some of it! :D_**

**_So, without further ado, Chapter 7! I can only hope it was worth the wait! :D_**

* * *

Phoenix hopped off his bike in front of the Prosecutors Building. He locked it to a small tree nearby and looked around the corner to catch a glimpse of the crime scene. As promised, he had come to help Miles investigate Maria's attack, though suspected the prosecutor had started without him. He had seemed very determined to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible.

Throughout the alleyway, officers in blue uniforms were scattered around collecting evidence and taking notes. Miles' distinct maroon coat was nowhere to be seen, however. The only person that stood out from the crowd was a young woman in a pristine white lab coat kneeling on the ground with a spray bottle in her hand.

"Ema!" Phoenix said.

The detective quickly stood up and faced Phoenix, immediately bringing her hand up to her head.

"Headrush, headrush…." Ema groaned. "Hey, Mr. Wright…."

"So last night was fun," Phoenix said.

"Shut it," Ema said, massaging her temples. "Why are you here?"

"I was looking for Edgeworth, have you seen him?" Phoenix said.

"No, haven't seen him all day," Ema said.

"Really? Weird, I figured he would be all over this place," Phoenix said.

"Nope, probably in his office or something," Ema said. "You're probably going there, right? I need you to give him something."

"Alright, no problem."

Ema handed him a manila envelope. "Make sure he reads it."

"Will do, see you later," Phoenix said, walking into the building.

* * *

Not bothering to knock, Phoenix stepped into Miles' office and found the man hunched over his desk.

"Come in, it's open," Miles said dryly.

Phoenix shrugged. "What are you doing up here? I thought you'd be outside."

"I need to sort out this paperwork," Miles said.

"What's it for?" Phoenix said, glancing at the papers on his desk.

"These are the forms I have to fill out so that I can prosecute the case," Miles said, tapping his pen against his desk.

"Aren't these the papers you were working on yesterday?" Phoenix said. "Is it that complicated?"

"A Chief Prosecutor rarely handles a case directly, you may have noticed," Miles said. "That is because there are specific circumstances that will allow it. As the head of district, my purpose is to manage the prosecutors beneath me. I assign them the cases. For me to assume control, there has to be a reason I can't let someone else do it."

"So?"

"There is absolutely nothing about this case that meets those requirements," Miles said, raking his fingers through his hair.

"But you prosecuted Athena's case. Last minute even," Phoenix said.

"That wasn't an official trial, and it was a hostage situation," Miles said.

"Oh, right…." Phoenix said, rubbing his chin. "Well…. Maria is a prosecutor, does that mean anything?"

"If she were the defendant," Miles said.

"But she was injured, shouldn't it be your responsibility as Chief to investigate it for the safety of your employees?"

"If something happened to her in the building, potentially. But the moment a prosecutor steps outside they're out of my hands."

"…. If every other prosecutor turned down the case?"

"Then I make someone do it or it goes cold."

"Okay…. What are the requirements?"

"For me to assign myself to a case, there must be special circumstances. Such as the original prosecutor being deemed unfit at some point during the trial, the defendant being a prosecutor or someone of high stature that would outrank an ordinary prosecutor, or perhaps if the case involved information only I could have access too."

"What kind of information would that be?" Phoenix said.

"Nothing that has anything to do with this case," Miles sighed.

"Well…. How do you know?" Phoenix said. "Doesn't sound like you've spent any time investigating. And the police don't have a suspect yet, so who's to say it's not someone high profile?"

"That's…. true," Miles said.

"Exactly! So get out of that chair and let's see what we can find!" Phoenix said, grinning.

"Wright, neither of us have clearance to be anywhere near that crime scene," Miles said. "There's no defendant, so no need for a defense attorney, and I'm not the prosecutor for the case."

"But you're the Chief, that has to count for something," Phoenix said.

"Just because I'm in a position of authority does not give me clearance to go wherever I want," Miles said, shuffling documents. "I manage prosecutors and influence the politics of the law world. I don't know where people get the idea that I have unlimited power. I'm a manager, not a king."

"People get away with stuff," Phoenix said.

"That doesn't mean they should," Miles said. "I'm going to go about this investigation as justly and legally as possible."

"Right…." Phoenix said, putting his hands into his pockets. _Guess I can't argue with that. _"But you're going to burn out if you stay behind that desk any longer, I can see it. There must be something you can do."

"You mean like get myself assigned to the case?"

"Have you made any progress in the last half hour?"

"…. Nngh."

"Edgeworth, come on," Phoenix said, placing his palms on the desk. "You want to find out what happened, and you're not going to find your answers behind this desk."

Miles glared at the defense attorney. "Then tell me, what am I supposed to do? You seem to have all the answers. How am I to investigate with no access to the crime scene?"

"I've done it before," Phoenix said. "You start by investigating around the crime scene. You talk to people, look for connections, make the most of what you got."

The prosecutor averted his gaze, processing the idea. "…. I suppose that's not the worst idea."

"Aw, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Phoenix said, grinning at how clever he was.

Miles resumed glaring.

"Come on, where can we start?" Phoenix said, deciding to ease off the jokes for a little while. "Have any witnesses come forward?"

"I don't believe so," Miles said, leaning back and folding his arms. He tapped his finger softly as he contemplated. "But then, the investigation has only just started. It's possible that someone saw what happened."

"Didn't this happen in the middle of the day? Someone must've been around," Phoenix said.

"This isn't exactly the most densely populated part of the city," Miles said. "3PM on a Wednesday isn't the busiest time of day either. Most people are working or something of that nature."

"You never know. Worth checking around the area, maybe someone saw something shady," Phoenix said.

"Perhaps," Miles said.

"What about in this building? Any prosecutors see anything?" Phoenix said.

"Not that I know of," Miles said. "They know to report to the police immediately though."

"Yeah, I guess they would," Phoenix said. "What's the security like in this place? Any cameras?"

"I believe they're all inside the building," Miles said.

"Seriously?" Phoenix said.

"The installers were more concerned with security breaches within than anything happening outside the building," Miles said. "I'm fixing that as soon as the case is over."

"Good call," Phoenix said. "It's still worth looking at though. Who knows, maybe it caught something."

"I suppose there aren't many other options," Miles said, getting out of his chair. "Very well then, let's go. The security center is on the first floor."

Phoenix jogged down the last flight of stairs to keep up with Miles. _Why is he so much faster? I guess walking is kind of his thing…._

They finally reached the ground floor and Miles lead the way to the security room. The prosecutor took his keys out of his coat pocket and unlocked the door. Inside the security center, rows of monitors were perched on the wall. Below them guards sat before a desk watching the screens. On the other side of the room a large window overlooked the parking lot.

"Mr. Edgeworth!" one of the guards stood up and saluted. "What brings you here?"

"An investigation," Miles said. "I need to see the security footage from yesterday."

"Of course! What time?"

"Hm," Miles mulled over the question.

"I was thinking about that on the way down, actually," Phoenix said. "The cameras must've caught Coldstare's actions right before the incident. There could be a lead there."

"You may have a point," Miles said. He turned to one of the guards monitoring the screens. "2PM to 3PM."

"Yes, sir! Just a minute."

The guard pulled out a keyboard and began typing commands into the computer. Moments later the screens changed.

"Fast forward," Miles said.

"Yes, sir."

With the press of a button, the prosecutors began walking down the hallways and talking to each other at a comically fast pace. There was nothing that stuck out to Phoenix until he saw Miles appear on screen. He walked up the stairs to the 12th floor, briefcase in hand. As he was walking down the hallway, Maria stepped out of her office. The two appeared to chat for a moment, then went their separate ways.

Phoenix turned to Miles. "Was this right before….?"

"Yes," Miles said. "Now pay attention, this is the important part. Play it at normal speed."

The guard did as he was told and slowed the video. Maria walked down the hallway at a normal pace, reading out of her organizer.

"Do you know where she was going?" Phoenix said.

"She was going to meet Detective Skye a few blocks down," Miles said. "She didn't say for what case though. Unfortunately it's difficult to keep track of her, as she takes on multiple cases at once."

"Maybe we can ask Ema," Phoenix said.

On screen, Maria disappeared from one monitor and appeared on another as she took the stairs.

"I don't think these videos are going to tell us anything," Miles said, adjusting his glasses. "I'm assuming there aren't any outdoor cameras?"

"Correct, sir," the guard said.

"As I thought," Miles said.

"Yeah, I guess there's nothing particularly important," Phoenix said. "Still, it's evidence. Wouldn't mind a copy. There could be something important we missed."

"Very well then, I suppose it would be foolish to discount anything of potential use," Miles said nonchalantly.

"I can make a physical copy, it'd only take a couple minutes," the guard said.

"Great, thank you!" Phoenix said.

While the guard worked on copying the file, Miles and Phoenix stood next to the massive window overlooking the parking lot plotting their next move.

"I guess the next thing to do would be to look for witnesses," Phoenix said.

"I've already sent a memo that any prosecutors with pertinent information should report to the police, of course they'd know to do that already," Miles said, gazing out the window.

Phoenix leaned against the wall next to the glass. "Guess that base is covered then. Want to see if anyone in the area caught something?"

"Sure," Miles said.

The defense attorney shoved his hands in his pockets. _This must be hitting him pretty hard. Should I say something?_

"So…. how is she?" Phoenix said.

Miles flinched, surprised by the question. "As well as can be expected, I suppose."

"Did the doctors tell you why she's comatose?" Phoenix said, not sure whether he was doing the right thing. _Starting to wish I'd brought Athena with me._

"Poison," Miles said. "Someone soaked some kind of cloth in poison and forced it down her throat. They didn't tell me what kind of poison it was, but I know it affected her nervous system and that's why she can't wake up."

"Ah," Phoenix said, not sure what else to add. Miles was hard to read sometimes.

Just then one of the guards spoke up. "All done!"

He walked over and handed Phoenix a CD, which the attorneys thanked him for.

"Ah, it was nothing. Just doing my job!" the guard spoke with an extra ounce of enthusiasm. Phoenix caught him sneak a glance at Miles.

_Have to look good when the boss is watching. _Phoenix put the CD away and turned to Miles. "Ready to go?"

"Of course," Miles said.


	8. Chapter 8

The attorneys left the security room and then the Prosecutors Building. Standing in front of the entrance, Phoenix and Miles could see glimpses of the crime scene not too far away. The street was lined with buildings of various heights, all of which paled in comparison to the Prosecutors Building. Very few people were out walking, but there were several cars being driven down the road.

"So no witnesses, huh?" Phoenix said, examining the street.

"Not that the police know of," Miles said. "The investigation has only just begun though. They'd be more concerned with investigating the scene of crime for evidence at the moment."

"So they haven't had time to ask around the neighborhood," Phoenix said. "Where should we start?"

Miles closed his eyes and crossed his arms. Phoenix recognized the stance and knew he was entering 'logic mode'.

"We're looking for people who witnessed the incident," Miles said, connecting the dots aloud. "Since we can't track down anyone who happened to be walking down the street, we're limited to anyone in the buildings in area. You'd have to be in position where you could see inside the alleyway to actually witness anything important. That means if anyone witnessed anything meaningful to the case, they were in one of those two buildings directly across the street from the Prosecutors Building."

"Alright, that narrows things down," Phoenix said. "But wait, what about the building next door? You know, on the other side of the alley."

"Empty. It was an insurance claims office that went out of business. I believe they were caught committing tax fraud or something of that nature," Miles said.

"Oh, well never mind then," Phoenix said. "So just those two then. Do you know what they are?"

"I'm afraid I don't," Miles said. "Many of these buildings get rented by small businesses, I never took the time to keep track of what was what."

"Guess we'll find out," Phoenix said, crossing the street. Miles followed.

When they reached the other side of the road, they found that their investigation was narrowed down even further by the closed sign on one of the building's doors. Phoenix knocked on the door anyway, just to be thorough, but there was no answer. So they went next door and were relieved to find it was open. There was a sign above the entrance that read 'Cloak and Dagger Apparel'. A bell chimed as Miles opened the door and they stepped inside.

It was a small storefront, designed to house maybe a dozen or so people at once. Given that there was no one else around, that was probably all the shop ever saw. Colorful, abnormal clothing covered the walls, and there were a couple shelves filled with accessories and such. _This looks like a place Trucy would shop._

"Is there anyone here?" Miles said, wandering around. "Surely the owner wouldn't leave the store completely unattended."

"Maybe they're upstairs," Phoenix said. "There's a second floor, isn't there?"

"Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that it's poor management," Miles said.

"There's gotta be someone here, the sign said it was open, right?" Phoenix said, wandering around as well.

A dark figure appeared from the back room, but the lawyers didn't notice. The back of the figure's hood robe slid across the floor as it approached them. Poking out from one of the long sleeves was the tip of a thin stiletto blade.

"What kind of clothing store is this exactly?" Miles said. "Everything here seems a tad…. Extravagant."

"Heh, isn't that kind of the pot calling the kettle black?" Phoenix said.

"What's the supposed to mean?" Miles said.

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Phoenix with a cheesy grin.

The hooded figure walked closer to the attorneys swiftly, but carefully. Walking around one of the shelves, the figure moved closer to the backs of the attorneys. Mere feet away, the figure stopped.

"Hello."

Phoenix turned around and reflexively jumped back at the sight of the hooded figure. Miles stepped back as well.

"Huh?" The oversized hood swayed as the person underneath tilted their head to the side. The cloaked figure then giggled. "Oh, silly me, forgot I was wearing this."

A small delicate hand reached out to put the knife on the nearest shelf and then proceeded to remove the hood, revealing a youthful woman's face. She giggled again, the motion causing her blonde hair with blue and orange streaks to bounce. It was kept out of her face by an orange headband adorned with what seemed to be fake cat ears.

"Hi there, can I help you?" she said.

"Um, hi," Phoenix said. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm the owner," the girl said. She took the robe off, revealing a much more vibrant and colorful outfit. Cutesy, though perhaps it showed a little too much skin. "My name is Callie Coquette!"

"Phoenix Wright," the defense attorney said.

"Miles Edgeworth," Miles said. "If you don't mind me saying, you seem very young to be a business owner."

"Oh, why thank you!" Callie said. "I opened this place as soon as I finished college. It's still pretty new, but it's doing okay!"

"What can you tell me about this place?" Phoenix said. "The Cloak and Dagger, was it?"

"Correct!" Callie said. "This is my costume shop. Everything here is made by yours truly. I have some premade costumes and items here, but I also do commissions if you're wanting something specific."

"I take it that hooded robe you were wearing is one of your creations?" Miles said.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Callie said. "I put it on to see how it fit, then I forgot to take it off. It's for this reaper-assassin thing I'm trying to do. What I was wearing was the male version, but I'm working on a female version too and I needed to see what needed to be altered to make it look right. Then I got caught up in working on weapons and-"

"It's fine," Phoenix said, cutting off the excitable girl.

"Yay!" Callie cheered. "So, what are you gents looking for? A couple's costume?"

"No," Miles said, his tone signaling that was that.

"Oh, sorry," Callie said coyly. "Well then what are you looking for? Any accessories, type of costume, maybe there's a specific design you have in mind?"

"Ms. Coquette, we need to ask you a few questions," Miles said.

"Of course, ask away! I get questions about materials and stuff all the time," Callie said.

"Oh, we're not here as customers," Phoenix said.

"Aw, you mean you're not going to buy anything?" Callie said, pouting and looking down at her feet.

Miles pulled out his organizer and took out a picture of Maria's face. He showed it to Callie. "Have you seen this woman before? Think hard."

"Hmm…." Callie looked at the photo for a second. "I don't think I've seen her in my shop before."

"What about in the area?" Miles said.

The lawyers watched the gears turn in Callie's head. Just then, she started giggling. Phoenix watched in surprise as chains formed around her and a Psyche-Lock appeared.

"Maybe," Callie said.

"Maybe?" Miles said, not nearly as amused as she was.

"Ms. Coquette, are you hiding something?" Phoenix said, grasping the Magatama in his pocket.

"Depends. What's it worth to you?" Callie said.

"Excuse me?" Phoenix said.

"I'll tell you if you buy something," Callie said.

Phoenix sighed. _Of course this is the girl with information. Why on Earth would it be someone reasonable? That'd just be silly._

"Young lady, this is a very serious matter," Miles said sternly.

"Aw, come on, no one ever buys anything!" Callie whined, her eyes big and wide. "Please? I'll do anything!"

"This is incredibly unprofessional, Ms. Coquette," Miles scolded. "We don't have time for this."

"I'm desperate, I can't lose my business. I need to make a profit soon!" Callie begged. "I'll tell you everything you want to know, I promise!"

"Fine, I'll buy something," Phoenix said, spent.

"Really?" Callie said, instantly perking up. The Psyche-Lock shattered to pieces. "Yay! Thank you!"

"Really, Wright?" Miles said.

"There's probably something Trucy will like," Phoenix said, shrugging. He shifted his gaze back to Callie, who was beaming. "I'll buy something after you tell us what you know."

"Deal!" Callie said. "So what did you want to know again?"

"This woman," Miles said, presenting the picture again. "Have you seen her?"

"Yeah, I know her," Callie said.

"You know her?" Miles repeated, surprised.

"Well, not really, I don't know her name or anything, but I think I've seen her before," Callie said. "Long hair, black pantsuit?"

"Yes, that's her. When did you see her?" Miles said, his gaze intensifying.

"I think I've seen her a couple times from my window, but last time I saw her was yesterday," Callie said.

"What window?" Phoenix said.

"My apartment window, I live on the floor above the shop," Callie said.

"What did you see?" Miles said.

"I was looking out the window, sketching ideas for my next costume, then the lady walked out of the building across the street, then she walked into the alleyway," Callie said. "Did something happen to her? Oh my gosh, is that why I saw a police car outside?"

The attorneys looked at each other, then back at Callie. Phoenix said, "There was an incident, yeah. A woman was attacked."

"Oh my gosh, no way!" Callie said, shocked. "Am I a witness, do I need to report to the police or something?"

"I mean, you didn't see much it sounds like, but it's probably best that you report it just to be safe," Phoenix said.

"Okay!" Callie said excitedly, running off, presumably to get her things before heading to the police.

"Wait!" Miles said, but it was too late. He grit his teeth, frustrated. "I wanted to ask her more questions…."

"You can ask her later, when you're the prosecutor," Phoenix said with an encouraging smile.

"I suppose…." Miles said, running his fingers through his hair.

"Come on, let's get out of here," Phoenix said.

"I thought you were going to buy something," Miles said.

"I forgot my wallet," Phoenix said, walking towards the door. "Let's get out of here before she remembers."

"You were banking on her getting distracted?" Miles said.

"No, I was banking on the generosity of my dear friend," Phoenix said, patting the prosecutor on the shoulder.

Miles rolled his eyes as they walked out the door. "That was a bit manipulative, don't you think?"

"I would've bought something if I'd had my wallet with me," Phoenix said, putting his hands in his pockets.

He felt something smooth and dry, like paper. All of a sudden he remembered Ema's note to Miles. Taking the envelope out of his pocket, he handed it to his friend.

"What's this?" Miles said.

"It's from Ema," Phoenix said. "She told me to give it to you, I don't know what it says though."

Miles opened the envelope and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He adjusted his glasses and unfolded the note, his eyes carefully scanning the words. Before Phoenix could ask what the note said, he saw the prosecutor grit his teeth.

**_This is a good stopping place! Hopefully the next chapter will come out soon. :D_**

**_Ah, Callie Coquette. I have wanted to use that name I don't know how long. Man I love puns. XD_**

**_So yeah, that's the chapter! Hope you liked it, have a great day! :D_**


	9. Chapter 9

**_*narrator voice* Last time, on The Silent Song of a Sparrow's Goodbye: * dramatic flashback*_**

**_"_****_What are you doing up here, Edgeworth?"_**

**_"_****_These are the papers I need to fill out to be the prosecutor for Maria's case, Wright."_**

**_"_****_You're the Chief Prosecutor, can't you just assign yourself and be done with it?"_**

**_"_****_I need a justifiable reason to take over the case. But I don't have one."_**

**_"_****_Then let's go find one!"_**

**_"_****_Hi, I'm Callie Coquette!"_**

**_"_****_Long hair, black pantsuit? Yeah, I've seen her!"_**

**_"_****_Oh, by the way, Ema wanted me to give this to you, Edgeworth."_**

**_Miles opened the envelope and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He adjusted his glasses and unfolded the note, his eyes carefully scanning the words. Before Phoenix could ask what the note said, he saw the prosecutor grit his teeth._**

**_*narrator voice* Now for Chapter Nine. _**

* * *

Witness.

Miles stared at the document in his hand, his gaze cool and detached. He had returned to his office and sat behind his desk, Ema's envelope in hand. Inside was a witness report form and a document asking if he would be willing to testify in court when the time came.

_So the police department wants me to be a witness. It makes sense, I was the one that discovered the scene of the crime. I even saw the assailant, albeit from a great distance. Naturally I should testify about it. This means I can't prosecute the case, but no matter. Perhaps it's best, given my personal attachment to the case. Indeed, I should just be a witness._

The Chief Prosecutor crumpled the files into a ball.

"Argh!" Miles exclaimed, throwing the paper at the door. He sighed, running his fingers through his hair._ Assigning the Chief Prosecutor to a case was already going to be difficult, now it's virtually impossible. Especially when they're right. I'm a witness, I should testify. But how can I not prosecute? I owe it to Maria._

A knock at the door interrupted his brooding.

"Come in," Miles said, regaining his composure.

The door swung open and Kay walked. She promptly placed a stack of papers on his desk and locked eyes with him.

"Mr. Edgeworth, I want to be the prosecutor," Kay said in a formal, business-like tone.

Miles returned the gaze. "Is that so?"

"Yes. I know you want to handle this case yourself, but you can't because of your position. You can trust me to take this investigation as seriously as you do. I'll do everything in my power to find the truth. I haven't been a prosecutor for very long, but I'm very capable and very dedicated," Kay said. Clearly she had rehearsed this. "I want to know who attacked Ms. Coldstare as much as you do."

"I see," Miles said. He picked up the documents and leafed through them.

"So what do you say?"

Miles considered her proposal. He hadn't expected this, he was so preoccupied with assigning himself to the case he hadn't given any other prosecutor much thought. _Honestly, I can't see myself trusting anyone else with this case. She is a good prosecutor, it's clear that her past experience with criminal investigation taught her well._

"All your paperwork is in order, you presented a strong case for yourself, very well done," Miles said. _It makes perfect sense to assign her the case. I would trust her with any other case in a heartbeat…._

"Thank you, sir," Kay said. "I intend to take this case very seriously."

"I believe you," Miles said, leafing through the paperwork again. He wasn't actually reading any of it, he was just stalling. _I'm not going to be the prosecutor, at this point it's just a fact. So I need to assign someone. The more I stall, the more time the culprit has to cover their tracks. _He knew everything he was thinking was true, but something kept him from admitting it out loud.

"I can prove it," Kay said.

"Hm?" Miles raised an eyebrow.

"I can prove I'll be a good prosecutor for the case," Kay said. "I don't expect you to just hand this over to the first person that walks in, no one does. So I want to prove my capability."

"Interesting…." Miles said. "And how do you propose to do this?"

"Simple," Kay said, placing her palms on the desk. "Take me to the crime scene. I'll demonstrate my investigations skills there."

"You want me to take you to the crime scene?" Miles said with a flicker of a smile.

"Exactly," Kay said, smirking.

"I see," Miles said, standing up. "You're a very clever girl, Kay."

"Thank you, Mr. Edgeworth," Kay said. "So, is that a yes?"

"Yes, it is," Miles said. "Let's see how much you've learned."

* * *

The two prosecutors stepped outside the building and walked over to the alleyway. There wasn't anything particularly distinct about the alley's appearance. A wide, concrete pathway separated the brick walls of two buildings. Aside from the investigators, the only things in the alleyway were two trashcans that had been knocked over on their sides.

"So this is where it happened," Kay said, surveying the scene.

Miles said nothing and merely tapped his finger against his folded arm. It felt strange to hand the reins over to Kay, the girl who had once been his assistant. In many ways their relationship was the same as it had been back then. He was still her superior, he was still teaching her, but things had changed. Kay was no longer a teenager that boasted about being a master thief to every law enforcer she came across. She was a law enforcer herself now.

_When did I start sounding like an old man? I'm not even 40. I'm still young. _He suddenly imaged what Phoenix would say if he'd heard that thought. _"You've had gray hair since you were 10."_

_I was born with it, Wright, you know that!_

"Hey, Mr. Edgeworth?" Kay said, interrupting his monologue.

"Yes?" Miles said.

"Doesn't something seem odd about this crime scene?" Kay said.

"You tell me," Miles said. He knew what she was talking about, but he was going to take this test seriously.

"There's no evidence," Kay said. "No weapons, no signs of a struggle, not even a blood stain."

"And why do you think this is?" Miles said.

"Well…." Kay crossed her arms, thinking. "I guess the police have been investigating all day. Maybe they have all the evidence."

"Well done, I came to the same conclusion," Miles said.

"See? I know what I'm doing," Kay said, rubbing her nose with an air of pride only she could pull off.

"I never said you didn't," Miles said.

"Hey, what's going on here?" a female voice behind them said.

The attorneys turned around to see Ema approach them. She immediately recognized them, as indicted by her surprised stance.

"Good morning, Detective Skye," Miles said.

"Mr. Edgeworth!" Ema stood up straight, her face flushed red. "What are you doing here?"

"To investigate, why else?" Miles said.

"But… um, didn't Mr. Wright…."

"Yes, he did," Miles said.

"He's with me," Kay said. "I'm the prosecutor for this case. I figured that since Mr. Edgeworth was such a vital piece of the puzzle, it would be beneficial to have him come to the crime scene to see what he could tell us."

"Oh," Ema said, still taking it all in. "That…. That makes sense."

"I'm glad you agree, Ema," Kay said.

_I wonder if I should be concerned by how natural it is for her to bend the rules._

"So, what have you figured out so far?" Kay said.

"Not much really," Ema said, placing a hand on her hip. "There's nothing that implies any particular person or motive. We can't even rule out that it wasn't just a failed theft attempt."

"A theft?" Kay said. "I hadn't considered that. Was anything stolen?"

"We don't think so," Ema said. "She had her purse with her, and all her valuables were in there. So if it was a thief it was a really bad one."

"Any thief that feels the need to carry a weapon is a bad one," Kay scoffed.

"What evidence have you gathered so far?" Miles said.

"Well, we just got a medical report from the hospital," Ema said.

"What does it say?" Miles said, both eager and hesitant. He made sure to not show either feeling.

"The stab wound missed any major arteries, although the blade may have scratched a vocal cord. Nothing that won't heal in a month or two," Ema said.

"Then why is she in a coma?" Kay said.

"Because of this," Ema reached into her bag and brought out a red cloth bunched up inside an evidence bag.

"What is that?" Kay said.

"A scarf that was soaked in poison. Ms. Coldstare was choking on it," Ema said.

"She had that stuffed down her throat?" Miles said. He didn't remember seeing that.

"Yeah, the first responders managed to get it out before she choked to death, but the poison did something to her," Ema said, looking off to the side. "Basically, oxygen was cut off from her brain for a little while, so she shut down."

Miles wanted to ask if she would ever wake up, but the words wouldn't come out.

"Will she wake up?" Kay said, as if she knew her boss wouldn't ask.

"They didn't give me a definite answer," Ema said. "At the moment she's comatose. This could result in her expelling the toxins and repairing herself enough to wake up. Sometimes it goes the other way…."

"What kind of poison was this?" Miles said, forcing himself to spit the words out.

"I haven't had time to analyze it, so I can't tell you exactly what it is, but based on what happened I'd say it's probably some kind of neurotoxin or maybe a narcotic of some kind," Ema said.

"I see. What else have you found?" Miles said.

"So far the only things that have stuck out are the things Ms. Coldstare had on her when she was found," Ema said. "The knife, her organizer and her purse."

"May we take a look at them?" Kay said.

"Yeah, sure," Ema said. "Which do you want to see first?"

"The knife," Miles said before he could think twice. Of the three, the knife was the thing he wanted to see the least. Hesitating wouldn't get the investigation anywhere though.

"Alright," Ema said, and went to get the evidence. She came back moments later with an ornate knife in her hand, along with a few pairs of rubber gloves.

"Thank you," Miles said, putting on the gloves then taking the knife and examining it from all angles.

The knife was decorated with a simple pattern of six silver strips that ran down the handle. The blade seemed rather simple as well, its most noticeable feature being the dark red blood coating it.

_It's just blood. You've seen much more blood than this, Miles._

"So…. witness. Have you ever seen this knife before?" Kay said.

Miles cleared his throat. "No, I've never seen anything like this before."

"You're sure?"

"I would remember a knife this strange. It's a very odd design. The blade is asymmetrical."

"Seriously?" Kay said, taking a closer look.

"There's an indention on one side," Miles said. "Right where it starts to thicken in the middle."

"That's weird, I didn't notice that," Ema said. "Where would someone even get a knife like this?"

"I can't even think of a reason for anyone to own such a blade," Miles said. "Perhaps it was damaged somehow."

"Maybe. The pattern on the handle is kind of weird too though," Kay said. "Two of these lines are straight, but the others are angled. It kind of looks messy."

"Very odd design choices…." Miles murmured, rotating the knife. "Interesting."

"What?" Kay said.

"It appears that these six lines are actually three that loop around the base of the handle," Miles said, displaying the base of the knife.

"Huh," Kay examined the knife. "It kind of looks like an 'A'. Could that be the culprit's initial?"

"Or the designer's," Miles said. "Hmm…."

"Think of something?" Kay said.

"I need to see more evidence before making any conclusions," Miles said.

"Alright, what did you want to look at next?" Ema said.

"Her organizer," Kay said.

"Alright," Ema said, and went to get it. She returned moments later. "Here you go."

"Thank you," Kay said, flipping through the pages.

"Maria was on her way to investigate with you, wasn't she?" Miles said.

"How did you know that?" Ema said, surprised.

"I spoke with her before she left," Miles said. "What were you investigating?"

"We were working on a few things, actually," Ema said. "All Rivale stuff. She was really obsessed with that family."

"It's a big group," Kay said. "I don't know how one prosecutor could handle all those people on her own."

"Oh, she's not the only one," Ema said. "The Rivales don't just live in this district. This is where their headquarters is, but smaller branches are spread out everywhere. Other prosecutors from different districts are going after them too."

"Wow," Kay said. "That's a big family."

"Technically all families are, scientifically speaking. It's really a matter of how many you stay in contact with," Ema said.

"I guess that's true," Kay said.

Miles looked over her shoulder. "Anything stick out?"

"There are so many different entries, she must have profiles on just about every Rivale in existence," Kay said.

"Hmm…. Any of their names start with A?" Miles said.

"So far, thirteen," Kay said.

"Of course," Miles said.

"Well, it had to be a Rivale, right? This is Ms. Coldstare after all," Kay said. "Rivales are kind of her thing."

"Yeah, that was my first thought to, but honestly…." Ema said, crossing her arms. "This is a little out of character for them."

"What do you mean?" Kay said.

"Well, this is pretty messy for a professional job," Ema said. "First of all, they failed. Second, this is a pretty weird spot to attack someone. I mean, every prosecutor in the district works right on the other side of the wall. Why not go after her at home, or anywhere else for that matter? And not in broad daylight?"

"That's true…." Kay said, closing the organizer.

"May I?" Miles said, gesturing to the black book.

"Sure, you're probably more familiar with her work anyway," Kay said.

"She's hard to keep track of actually, especially when trying to monitor every other prosecutor in the building," Miles said, taking the organizer.

Before he could open the binder, he noticed something on the cover. On the top right corner of the organizer was a pale tan smudge. It stood out against the dark cover.

"There's a stain here," Miles said.

"Oh yeah, we saw that," Ema said. "Pretty sure it's dirt. Coldstare dropped it when she, you know, fell. If you look closely, there's dirt all over the cover."

"That it is," Miles said, examining the cover more closely. "But why is it concentrated in this spot?"

"Not sure yet," Ema said. "Maybe that spot got wet or something?"

"Perhaps…." Miles said. He handed the organizer back to Ema. "I doubt I'll be able to make much sense of her notes. Out of the three of us, you know the most about her cases."

"Probably. I'll look through it later," Ema said.

"Guess that just leaves her purse," Kay said.

"One minute," Ema said.

The detective quickly returned with a black leather purse.

"Coldstare really likes the color black, doesn't she?" Phoenix said.

"Actually, she prefers green. She just thinks black looks better on her. Same reason I don't wear purple anymore," Miles said offhandedly.

"Alright, let's see what we got," Ema said. She reached into the bag and rifled through it. "Wallet, keys, cellphone, pen, flashlight, make up…. Nothing particularly interesting."

"So all her valuables are accounted for…. Good," Miles said. He crossed his arms, tapping a finger against his arm.

"Say, does Coldstare have a kid?" Ema said.

Miles took a moment to process the random question. "Um…. No, I'm fairly certain she doesn't. Why do you ask?"

"Because she has this in her bag," Ema said, holding up a pink rubber bracelet. It was much too small for an adult's wrist.

Kay raised an eyebrow. "Why would Coldstare have that in her bag?"

"Good question. I've never seen it before," Ema said, examining it. "Hey, it's got writing on it. It says 'Mary'."

"Mary…." Kay said softly, revealing her thinking face.

"Perhaps Maria went by that as a child," Miles said.

"Maybe. Still doesn't explain why she has it though," Phoenix said.

"Weird…." Ema murmured, placing the bracelet back in Maria's purse. "Well, that's everything we've found so far."

"There's not much to go on here," Kay said.

"Yeah, this alleyway was pretty empty to begin with," Ema said. "The fact that it's outside doesn't help. You can never be sure if the wind took something away or brought something new to the scene. Any DNA samples you find, you have to take with a grain of salt."

"That's not helpful," Kay said.

"Well, Miss Prosecutor, how do you suggest we proceed?" Miles said.

"Umm…." Kay bit her lip, her mind racing. "We should…. see what else we can gather from the crime scene. Figure out exactly what happened."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Miles said.

Kay reached into her side pack and pulled out a familiar device.

"Little Thief, I see," Miles said. "And what exactly are you going to do with it? You don't have much data to go on."

"That's where my witness comes in," Kay said.


	10. Chapter 10

**_Hi there! Welcome to Chapter 10! Prepare your mind for an Investigation-style investigation! :D_**

**_Thank you, everyone that's stuck with me all this time. Still blows me away when people comment on my stories and actually, you know, like them! Seriously, it means so much. So if you're reading this, thank you to the moon and back! And if you're not reading this…. Well, kind of impossible for you to be aware of this author's note if you're not reading it. I guess someone could tell you about it. Yeah, that works! So the people that ARE reading this can let you know that I like you too! You're probably nice. But enough about all you non-readers-of-my-fanfics, back to the amazing readers! Thank you guys so much! Just between us, I think you're great. Every view, follow, favorite and review holds a special place in my heart! I sincerely hope you enjoy this chapter, anticipate another one soon! Or don't. That's the other thing I'm thankful for. All you guys have stuck with me despite my unreliability with updates. I'm gonna try to be more reliable, just for you!_**

**_Review, don't review, the choice is yours! Either way, I hope you have a great day! :D_**

* * *

"Mr. Edgeworth, can you tell me what happened?" Kay said, holding up Little Thief and smiling.

"Very well," Miles said, crossing his arms and gripping his sleeve. "I heard Maria from my window and saw her and someone else in the alley. The other person was holding a knife, which they used against Maria. Then the assailant had fled. That should be a good start for Little Thief."

"Um, yeah, that'll do," Kay said, sounding a tad thrown off.

"Something wrong?" Miles said.

"No, nothing," Kay said. "I don't know what it is, something about that testimony felt…. different, I guess."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Ema said. "It's normally more.… formal. Systematic."

"It's fine though," Kay added quickly, and activated Little Thief with her lyrics.

Miles said nothing. He agreed with the girls, but the way he presented the information was good enough for now.

Kay quickly entered the data into her device and held him up over her head. The scene flashed white, then a green grid covered the area. The biggest change to the scene was two human silhouettes, one red and one blue. The red figure held a knife, which it stabbed into the blue figure. The blue victim fell to the ground, the red figure disappeared, and the simulation ended.

"That look about right?" Kay said.

"It's a good starting point," Miles said. "An investigation of the scene should help put everything together."

"Then let's look around," Kay said.

Miles surveyed the now green alleyway. The new color did nothing for the drab, grimy appearance. He scowled at the littered ground surrounding the fallen trashcans. It was filthy, completely unsuited to be a lady's crime scene.

He turned his attention to the digital silhouettes. The figures had been reset to the beginning of the simulation, facing each other.

"I know I just said to look around," Kay said, walking around the alley. "But there really isn't much to see."

"Perhaps instead of looking for more clues, you should see how much you draw from what you have," Miles said. "I imagine there's enough info to connect a few dots."

"You mean…. Use Logic?" Kay said.

"Precisely," Miles said. "Isn't the point of using Little Thief to find inconsistencies between facts and testimony?"

"Well, his original purpose was to plan heists," Kay said. "But that's what he's used for now."

"That's what I meant," Miles said. "So, what about the simulation is different from the case?"

"Well, the biggest thing that stands out is the poisoned choke," Kay said. "I don't know where it fits in. Why use both? Which came first?"

"Those are good questions…." Miles said.

He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, thinking. _I feel like I should know the answer to at least one of those questions…. _He sorted through his mental collection of clues, trying to make something connect. All of a sudden it came to him, like a flash of light went off in his mind.

"I heard Maria scream. That's what got my attention…." Miles said. "And when I looked out the window, the knife I was still in the assailant's hand. She couldn't have screamed if the choke was in her throat. Therefore the knife came first."

Kay looked surprised. "Oh. You… never mentioned the scream."

"Something had to get my attention, didn't it? I didn't think that was something you could program into the simulation," Miles said curtly.

"Uh, right," Kay said. "So the knife came first. But the stab missed all the organs, right? So the attacker used the scarf….? But wait, why not just use the knife again? And why was the knife left at the scene, anyway?"

_The knife was left at the scene. The knife missed. The knife came before the scarf. _Recognizing that they were all good pieces of information to keep in mind, Mile stored them away in his memory files. _Though it didn't do much damage, the knife clearly plays a vital role in this case…. _

Miles suppressed the image of Maria getting stabbed. _Focus on the case. Treat it like you would any other._

"What's this square over here?" Kay said, looking down at the ground.

By her feet was a white chalk square with a tiny yellow flag that read '2'.

"Oh, that's where we picked up the organizer," Ema said.

"She dropped it there?" Miles said.

"I guess so," Kay said. She took a small step back and almost slipped on an old apple core. The ninja quickly regained her balance. "Ugh, didn't realize I was so close to that garbage can."

"Why are they even on their side like that?" Miles said, still displeased with the state of the crime scene. "It hasn't been particularly windy, certainly not enough to knock over a filled trash bin."

"Something probably knocked them over, like a stray dog or a raccoon," Kay said, looking back at the fallen metal cans. "You can see there are some dents, like something rammed into them…."

Kay looked down at the notebook, then at the blue hologram a few feet in front of her. "You think…."

"She was pushed?" Miles said. "I believe you may be right."

"I'll add this to Little Thief," Kay said, whipping out the device.

She quickly uploaded the information and held the gadget in the air. With a flash, the scene began. The two figures faced each other, then the red figure pushed the blue figure into the garbage cans. The red silhouette stabbed the blue one, and the scene ended.

"Alright, so the attacked pushed Ms. Coldstare, then the knife was used," Kay said.

"But the knife missed," Miles said.

"Right," Kay said. "So she was pushed into the bins, but the knife missed…."

"She must have fought back," Miles said, connecting the dots.

"Of course! No way she'd just lay there and let them win," Kay said, setting up the next part of the simulation.

The scene started over, with the attacker silhouette pushing the blue victim into the bins. Next, the red figure moved to stab the victim. It succeeded, but the victim got up and the two figures appeared to be locked in battle.

"Alright…. But then what?" Kay said, folding her arms and thinking. "This still doesn't explain why the scarf was used. The attacker could've just taken the knife back. Why would they just leave it there?"

"There's another factor you've forgotten," Miles said, running through his mental notes. "One that doesn't show in your simulation."

"There is?" Kay said.

"Noise," Miles said.

"Oh, that's right! You heard Ms. Coldstare, didn't you?" Kay said.

"Precisely, perhaps some passersby heard her too," Miles said. "Pair that with the knife being left at the scene, and you can deduce that our culprit was feeling rushed."

"Someone could've showed up at any minute," Kay said, her expression and tone suddenly becoming very serious. "And they would've seen an injured woman fighting off her attacker."

"Exactly. The culprit was in a hurry, but Maria was defending herself," Miles said, feeling the final two pieces of the puzzle coming together. "They couldn't take the knife back, so instead they used their backup. The poisoned scarf."

"Making sure that even if she lived, she couldn't talk," Kay said grimly. "And then they ran."

Just to be thorough, Kay recreated the scene with Little Thief. It went exactly as they thought it would. The attacker pushed the victim in the trash cans, stabbed the blue figure, they fought, then the red assailant shoved a choke in the blue victim's face and ran while the victim fell to the ground.

"So, that's that then," Ema said. "I'll write up a report on everything you figured out. Thanks for the help. That Little Thief thing should be used in more investigations."

"I'm inclined to agree," Miles said. "Although it is incredibly difficult to operate."

"You just have to know how he works," Kay said. "Ms. Coldstare figured it out, didn't she?"

"That she did," Miles said, thinking back to when it had been him in the hospital.

"Hey," Kay said gently. "We'll get whoever did this to her."

After a moment, the Chief Prosecutor nodded his head. "That we will."

Miles reached into his coat pocket and took out a pen and a folded sheet of paper. He unfolded the document, held it up against a brick wall and signed is name above the dotted line.

"Here you are, Detective" Miles said, handing Ema the witness consent document. He turned to Kay. "What are you going to do next, Ms. Prosecutor?"

Kay smiled wide, then cleared her throat and put on her business face. "I'm going to look into Ms. Coldstare's recent activity. I want to put together a list of potential suspects, and I sense that looking into her casework is the best place to start."

"Excellent," Miles said. "I'll assign you to the case. Expect to find the paperwork on your desk tomorrow."

"Yes, sir!" Kay said.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Hi there! So, shorter chapter that took way longer than it should've. Classes and whatnot. Still! I'm taking advantage of the free time I've got by doing something with it! And not just fanfiction! I've just recently started a blog on WordPress! I call it Psyche-Locks, it combines my love of Ace Attorney and psychology! I'll be looking at characters in the games and one by one analyzing their personality and background with the science of psychology to explain why they are who they are. I've already got two posts up if that sounds interesting to you! Remember, it's called Psyche-Locks and it's on WordPress! Oh, and I call myself AnaLyst on it. (I love pun names.)_**

**_Shameless promotions aside, on to the chapter, the reason you're here! I hope you like it! :D_**

Miles walked down the sterile white hallway, searching for the right room. He had resolved to visit Maria whenever he could. There were many reasons. It reaffirmed that she was alive. While it hurt to see her comatose, with bandages covering the skin beneath a hospital gown, she was still breathing and that was comforting. The doctors had informed him that she might not ever wake up, and that even if she did she might not be the same. Still, he hoped against hope that they were wrong. Logic told him that they probably weren't, but he didn't care. Maria was going to wake up. He was going to tell himself that for as long as he could. And he wanted to be there when it happened.

Eventually, he found the right door and turned the knob. Inside the hospital room, Maria lay on her bed with a woman Miles had never seen sitting in a chair next to her. The woman looked up at him and smiled warmly.

"You must be Miles," the woman said.

It took Miles a moment to recover from the initial surprise. "Erm, yes. And you are?"

"Alicia Coldstare, I'm Maria's aunt," the woman said. "It's nice to meet you. Although I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Likewise," Miles said, with a gentlemanly bow.

He closed the door behind him and took a seat on the other chair next to Maria's bed, unsure how to proceed.

Alicia was a middle-aged woman with slightly curled auburn hair. A pair of glasses rested on the bridge of her nose, covering two hazel eyes. She dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans.

"Maria spoke highly of you," Alicia said. "You're the Chief Prosecutor, correct?"

"Yes, as of last year," Miles said. "She's spoken rather fondly of you as well. You're a dog trainer, if memory serves."

"That's right, I've run an obedience school for most of my life," Alicia said. She smiled softly. "Maria always loved playing with the dogs when she was little."

"Sounds like her," Miles said.

Alicia took Maria's hand. "For a while, I thought she might grow up to work with me. She always loved working with the dogs, she was good with them too."

"She still is," Miles said. "You taught her well."

"Thank you," Alicia said, her laugh lines creasing from a gentle smile. She looked down at Maria's hand in hers, and the smile was gone. "What happened to her? The nurse didn't tell me."

"They didn't tell you anything?"

"They told me the medical stuff, but why is she…. Who did this to her?"

Miles gripped his sleeve and looked away. "We don't know who yet. The investigation has only just begun."

He explained what had happened in the alleyway. How Maria had been attacked, then escorted the hospital as quickly as possible. That the assailant had gotten away. Alicia never interrupted, merely listened. It pained Miles to see her flinch at the mention of Maria's assault. He had only just met the woman, but it was clear that she cared for her niece deeply, and seeing her remorse only increased his guilt.

"I'm sorry," Miles said, his heart sinking farther and farther, weighed down by his guilt.

"I just can't believe it," Alicia said, gripping her niece's hand tighter. "Why would anyone go after her?"

"I don't know yet. But I assure you, I have every intention of finding out," Miles said.

"This shouldn't have happened. She shouldn't be here," Alicia said, grinding her teeth and trembling.

"I know," Miles said.

"She should be…. Anywhere else," Alicia growled. "Why is she here? I was supposed to take care of her."

Miles didn't know what to say. He hated seeing her so upset. It only reinforced the guilt building up in his chest, constricting his heart. He didn't know what to say though. She was already saying exactly what he felt. He also wished he could've made a better first impression on Maria's family, despite the situation making that seem much less important.

Alicia rubbed her thumb against Maria's hand. "This isn't right."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let this happen," Miles said, unable to look her in the eye. "I should have done something, anything, to keep her safe. I failed her…."

"…. It's not your fault," Alicia said, sighing. She ran her free hand through her hair. "This…. isn't the first fight she's gotten into."

"Fights?" Miles was taken aback. Maria was tough, and he knew she didn't stand for injustice, but he couldn't imagine her brawling.

"Maybe that wasn't the right word. She…. You may have noticed she doesn't take flak from people," Alicia said.

Miles nodded his head.

"She was very shy as a child, making friends wasn't easy. Especially when classmates started making fun of her. Eventually she got sick of it and took charge," Alicia said, a smile flickering. "I remember being told she had missed a class in seventh grade because a boy took one of her textbooks. She was a bit short back then, so he thought it would funny to take one of her books and watch her try to grab it. Instead, she glared at him and waited for his arms to get tired."

"Interesting tactic," Miles commented.

"She made her point," Alicia said. "It was nice to see her gain some confidence, but every now and then I would worry that she might herself into trouble…."

Miles wondered if she knew about all the times Maria had been in danger. Did she ever share with her aunt all the times she had been targeted by gangsters? Or did she spare her from worrying?

"When she told me she wanted to work in criminal law, to make it her job to take on criminals, my first thought was 'of course you do'," Alicia said. "For a while, when she was younger, I thought she might stay with me and work at the obedience school. She was always so happy taking care of the dogs, they seemed to bring her out of her shell. I thought she would want to stay. But maybe I just saw what I wanted to. As she got older it was clear as day that she was going to do more."

"She is a brilliant prosecutor," Miles said.

"I know," Alicia said. "I've seen her. From her first trial, she carried herself with such purpose and dignity, even when she lost. When she won though, she always had his proud smile."

Miles nodded silently and glanced at Maria's gentle, sleeping face. There was no smile, but she looked peaceful at least.

"Was she happy?" Alicia said. "As a prosecutor, did it make her happy?"

The dusky hired prosecutor crosses his arms and considered her question for a moment. He thought back to Maria studying for her cases, the way she spoke when presenting her findings, the pride she had in her work. "Yes, I believe she was."

"Good," Alicia said, nodding her head. "That's all I wanted for her."

"She was very happy," Miles said, angry at what had been taken. "Putting criminals behind bars was something she took very seriously. I will find the scum that did this to her and they will be held accountable to the highest degree the law will allow. That should make her happy when she wakes up."


	12. Chapter 12

**_Alright, finally done! Let's do a quick recap, since it's been while. *cue readers rolling their eyes and thinking "you don't say?"* So, Maria was attacked in an alleyway outside the Prosecutors Building, leaving her in a drug-induced coma. Miles witnessed it, and is now investigating it with Kay. The current theory is that Maria was lured into the alley and stabbed with a knife. But it missed the major arteries and she fought back. So the criminal used a bunched up scarf soaked in a currently unknown chemical to choke her, resulting in the coma. That about sums it up. On with Chapter 12!_**

**_BTW, thanks to everyone who's stuck with me this whole time, and encouraged me to continue. Means the world. Virtual cookies to all of you. Allergen free and tasty, so everyone can enjoy. *heart*_**

* * *

Sunlight filtered through the overcast sky, dimly illuminating the elegant office through the picture window in the back, aided by a table lamp. A lone girl with long, raven hair stood before an expansive bookshelf, running a gloved finger across each and every spine. Finding one that piqued her interest, she plucked a dark blue binder from the shelf and placed it on the desk behind her next to a stack of other binders.

_Guess this is a good start, let's see what I can find. _Kay picked up a black organizer and opened the blue binder on the desk. Maria's organizer was filled to the brim with information, but not enough to paint an entire picture. It was filled with notes and data, but Kay couldn't decipher which pieces connected or how. It was something only Maria herself could truly comprehend. So Kay had decided to raid Maria's office for answers.

She leafed through the blue binder, searching for anything that matched the organizer's contents. When her search yielded no results, she closed the binder and opened the next one. Inside this binder, she found details of a case from a couple years ago. She found a few names that were also in the organizer. She took the file out of the binder and skimmed through its contents.

"Hm…." Kay took out a section of the binder's content and placed it on the desk. _That's worth another look._

She opened another binder. This one was filled with bios of Rivale members, both free and incarcerated. Kay couldn't help but notice that the binder was over two inches thick.

_Coldstare…. Why did you have to tick off this many people? _

Miles stepped out of his office, having spent most of the day doing paperwork. Kay was officially assigned as the prosecutor, and him a witness. Not having much else to do, he decided to stop by Kay's office and see how her investigation was progressing. He locked the door behind him and headed for the stairs, as Kay's office was a level below his. Just then, he heard a sound come from Maria's office.

He stopped in front of her door. _No one should be in there. Is someone raiding her office? _Miles turned the doorknob, finding that it was unlocked. His other hand curled into a fist, he opened the door.

"Who is that?" Miles said sternly.

Kay looked up at Miles, kneeling on the floor in front of a pile of binders. Papers were scattered across the floor all around her.

"Kay? What are you doing here?" Miles said, his tone softer.

"Investigating the case, what else?" Kay said, picking up the fallen binders.

"This door is supposed to be locked," Miles said, raising an eyebrow at the girl. "How did you get in here?"

"You really have to ask?" Kay said.

Miles crossed his arms and sighed. He didn't have to ask. "Why is Maria's office such a mess?"

"I dropped a couple binders," Kay said, placing said binders back on the desk.

"And this resulted in papers been strewn across the entire floor?" Miles said disapprovingly.

"I needed more room to look at everything."

"I see."

Miles gazed around the office. Papers were laid out across the floor, clustered together in apparently random spots. In addition, binders were stacked on top of the desk. Some of them appeared to be half empty.

"What exactly have you been looking for?"

"Anything that could be a lead, really," Kay said, as she knelt down to resume 'organizing' the floor papers. "I started with her organizer, the one she carries around with her, to figure out what she'd been working on lately. At first, it didn't make any sense. She had notes and files all over the place. Some of them went back to before she even worked here."

_She had files from her previous district? _Maria had never talked much about where she used to work. If Miles wasn't curious before, he certainly was now.

"Were you able to draw any conclusions?" Miles said.

"Well, I've narrowed it down to the entire Rivale Family," Kay said, her head falling into her cupped hands.

"I see," Miles said. "And why the Rivales?"

"Because basically every case she's prosecuted is against them," Kay said. "That's not an exaggeration. I have not found any case files that don't mention that name."

"She is dedicated," Miles said, picking up a piece of paper. It was a newspaper clipping with a question mark written in red ink.

"Before you ask, no, this is no explanation for it in her organizer. Or anywhere," Kay said bitterly. She sighed. "I might be on to something, but it's so hard to tell. This family is so big, and Ms. Coldstare was working on all of it. There are entire journals dedicated to just theories. Look at this one."

The young prosecutor swiped a binder off the desk behind her and opened it. "You know what's in this one? People who might've been kidnapped. She was investigated potential future cases in addition to her current ones. I have no idea how far she got with any of these."

Miles took a moment to absorb the size of Maria's investigation. He had never realized the enormity of her workload. This office was normally so pristine and organized, it masked just how many documents there really were.

_There must be a pattern to this. You're never this scattered. What were you doing?_

"Kay, this office is a mess. You can't hope to make any deductions from this," Miles said, gesturing to the paper covered floor.

"Hey, I'm doing my best," Kay said.

"Why do you think her office never looks like this?" Miles said.

"I don't know, mine usually does. I need to spread things out and have room to think," Kay said.

_For someone who prides herself on not leaving a trace, she certainly loves making a mess. _"Yes, but this isn't your office. What does that suggest?"

"…. That Coldstare doesn't think the way I do," Kay said. "This information is arranged incorrectly, because it was meant to be read by her."

Miles nodded approvingly, then tapped a finger on his forehead. His former assistant was getting better. "Maria works systematically. If she had an overarching goal, or any pattern in her cases, it should become apparent if you organize these files by date. Within the last year should suffice."

"You got it!" Kay said, her tone betraying her eagerness for discovery.

The two prosecutors worked together to create a timeline on the floor. Miles had attempted to convince Kay to use the desk instead, but his suggestions fell on deaf ears. While he didn't care for crouching on the floor, and he certainly wasn't going to crawl around as Kay did, he did have to admit that the desk wouldn't have been big enough for all these documents.

It took some time, but eventually they put together a linear timeline across the carpet. They didn't use all the files, but they agreed that all the crucial information was there. It was mostly arrest records and case files.

"Alright, let's see what we got here," Kay said, standing up to examine what they'd created. She held a binder full of Rivale bios to gain further context.

"The timeline starts with a group of arrests," Miles said. "Rita, arson. Judith, set off explosives in a related incident. A few weeks later, a man named Karol was arrested for murder."

"R… R… R… Here she is," Kay said, flipping through the binder. "The two women, plus a few others, work as the family's 'clean-up crew'. They destroy evidence. Karol is the leader of that group, and an assassin. Yikes, he kills with a hammer when he wants to send a message. Freaky. Doesn't say anything about kidnapping though."

"Let's move on then, shall we?" Miles said, putting the records down and picking up the next document. It was a group of newspaper and magazine clippings held together by a paperclip.

"What do those say?" Kay said.

"It appears to be a collection of obituaries, missing person ads, and articles about scandals."

"Think she was looking for cases?" Kay said.

"It's quite possible," Miles said. "Are there any others like this?"

"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure she kept them all in one place," Kay said.

"I see," Miles said, making a mental note.

After that, they examined journal entries, case files, and arrest records without detecting any sort of noticeable pattern. There were mentions of the kidnapping ring, but there wasn't enough information to make any real connections. About halfway through the timeline, they came across an arrest record that caught their attention.

"Lucy Rivale," Miles read. _Where have I heard that name before?_

"Let's see who this one is," Kay said, flipping through her binder. "This says she's a teenager. And an assassin….?"

Just then, Miles was hit with a flash of insight. "Does it say anything about a father?"

"Um…. Yeah! Nero Rivale…. Oh, that's right!" Kay said, making the same connection. She gripped her hand into a fist. "He's the jerk that shot you!"

Miles nodded his head, rotating his shoulder. The bullet wound had healed months ago, although there was still some light scarring and occasional soreness. He couldn't help but feel a bit of phantom pain at the mention of the incident.

"I guess it only makes sense that we would recognize some of these people, since we're looking at all the more recent stuff," Kay said.

"True," Miles said. "I don't suppose there's any mention of those two being affiliated with the kidnapping ring?"

"Well, they're assassins, so they got assignments for all sorts of stuff. I think most of their work ended with people not being brought back alive though," Kay said.

"I suppose that's to be expected," Miles said, picking up the next file on the timeline.

He adjusted his glasses and leaned forward to read it. It was for the arrest of a Rivale charged with kidnapping. _There we are. I was beginning to question where Kay's theory came from. _"Randy Sum-Rivale, convicted for kidnapping on several accounts."

"Let's see what the binder has to say…." Kay said, flipping through the binder. "Looks like this guy was pretty low on the totem pole, but worked his way up to kidnapping. Has connections to a bunch of others in the business."

"Interesting…." Miles said. He picked up the next file on the timeline. "I don't suppose he's connected to Hans Sum-Rivale?"

"That would be his older brother. And boss, it looks like," Kay said. "He was arrested too?"

"Yes," Miles said. "Perhaps the younger brother leaked information?"

"Maybe," Kay said.

They continued down the timeline, finding that each and every case was connected to the kidnapping ring. Finally, they reached the end.

"Seems she put quite a dent in the kidnapping ring," Miles said, placing an arrest record back on the floor.

"Seriously, these are some really high-profile cases," Kay said, examining the timeline. "Do you think this could've had something to do with the attack?"

"Well, I suppose that Rivales have retaliated over less," Miles said. "You can't be sure though."

"But this is the pattern I've been looking for!" Kay said. "Look, for months she's been focused on the same thing. But it's more than that. First she caught a kidnapper. Then his boss. Then his boss. Then his boss. She's been working her way to the very top, I think she was going after the leader of the ring! If that doesn't make them feel threatened, what would?"

"Yes, I noticed that as well," Miles said, crossing his arms.

"You did?" Kay said. "Then why didn't you say anything?"

"I just said I don't know if this has anything to do with the case," Miles said. "There isn't even proof that the Rivales are involved. It could've been anyone. Perhaps a criminal unrelated to the gang wanted revenge, or she had a stalker she was unaware of, or it was someone trying to mug her, or a crazy person assaulted her for the sake of it."

"Do you really think this was random?" Kay said.

"I can't guarantee that it wasn't," Miles said. "Investigations dependent on hunches will only result in determining a single possibility. I need a definitive conclusion based on hard evidence. Nothing else will suffice."

"That's what I want too," Kay said. "But I really think this is worth looking into. I mean, come on. Ms. Coldstare starts tracking down the leader of a major crime ring, and then just so happens to be attacked? That can't be a coincidence."

"It's a likely possibility, I agree," Miles said, itching to gather more information. Searching through the files didn't give him the conclusive results he had hoped for. "However, even if this is connected to the case, it's an entire organization of people willing and able to attack Maria. There needs to be evidence. A piece of hair, a pulled thread, a fingerprint, anything."

"But the crime scene is almost spotless," Kay said.

"Or maybe they're not looking hard enough," Miles said. "I'm going back to search for more evidence."

"Do you think you'll find something?" Kay said.

"It's a possibility," Miles said, straightening his coat as he walked to the door. "That's all we have, right? Investigate this potential lead, see if it holds water."

"Yes, sir," Kay said.

"And Kay," Miles said, opening the door.

"Yes?"

"Make sure this door is locked when you leave," Miles said, shutting it behind him.


	13. Chapter 13

**_Last week-_**

**_Me: "Sweet, I'm finally done with this chapter! I'll ask the amazing High Inquisitor Darkblaw if it's got any errors and then I'll post!"_**

**_Darkblaw: "Looks good! Just fix a couple spelling errors."_**

**_Me: "Yay! I'm out right now so I'll do it when I get home!"_**

**_Today-_**

**_Me: *face palm*_**

**_Writing takes a long time when you forget to do it. Fun fact. I think I've kept y'all waiting long enough, here's chapter 13!_**

* * *

Kay scrolled through the seemingly endless list of files on her laptop screen. She decided the more modern police database would be a better way to search than a mountain of dusty books, now that she knew what to look for. She wasn't quite ready to leave the bounty of information still scattered across the floor, however, so she stayed in Maria's office.

_Why hasn't Edgeworth updated this place? Shouldn't computers be a standard piece of equipment in offices by now? I don't think I've ever seen him even use one. You'd think he'd be all for it, seeing how he's too scared to reach the top of his own shelf._

The former thief turned her attention back to the case. She had accessed the police database from her laptop and was now looking for more information on the kidnapping ring. From Maria's notes, she knew that Rivale kidnappers were suspected to be spread out across the entire west coast. There were even rumors that they were connected to the Italian Mafia. She was only concerned with their activity in this district, though. Which was convenient, seeing how that was all she had access to.

She slid her index finger across the mouse pad and selected the file with the most recent date. It was a report detailing the arrest of several high-ranking Rivale gang members. According to the document, the arrest had been led by Detective Skye and resulted in the arrest of four men.

_Phillip Rivale, Frederick Rivale, Eugene Rivale, and Henry Rivale….. _Kay wrote the names onto a small pad of paper she kept in her side pack and continued reading.

The four men had been arrested for being known high-ranking members of a major kidnapping conspiracy. They had since been accused of multiple felonies, such as murder, theft, counterfeiting, and selling illegal substances. Ema and Maria interrogated each man individually and confirmed that they were the four sons to the leader of the Rivale Family.

_The leader…. _Kay cracked her knuckles. _Let's see what we can learn about him…._

Miles carefully traced his fingers across the brick outer wall of the Prosecutor's Building, wearing latex gloves to avoid contaminating potential evidence. He paused, took his finger off, and examined the debris on his fingertip.

"Detective Skye, how is the footprint analysis going? Any conclusive results?" Miles said before returning his attention to the wall.

"All I can tell you right now is that a lot of people walk have walked through here, sir," Ema said, holding a spray bottle and staring at the ground while wearing tinted glasses. "I couldn't tell you which prints are from civilians and which belong to the investigators though."

"Then figure it out," Miles said. His gaze focused on a single brick. _This brick is a noticeably brighter red than the surrounding bricks. _"Someone bring me some Luminol."

"Yes, sir!" A forensics officer hurried over with a bottle of Luminol and glasses. "Where do you want me to spray?"

"This section of the wall," Miles said, pointing to the suspiciously red brick.

The officer did as he was told, spraying the wall and carefully examining it with his glasses. "There's no bloodstain, sir."

"No blood? At all?" Miles said sternly, crossing his arms and lowering his head.

"Yes, sir, I'm positive," the officer said, nodding his head with anxious vigor. "We haven't found any blood."

_None? _The moment of the attack replayed in Miles' mind. _There was fight, and a loud noise….. Maria was trying to defend herself against the person with the knife. And there was a scream…. _The scene turned red, and Miles felt the blood vessels in his head inflate and pound against his skull. He clutched his forehead in pain. _Something isn't right…. What is it?_

"Are you okay, sir?" the office asked.

"Of course I am!" Miles growled. "Get back to work. Now."

"Yes, sir!" the office quickly saluted and walked away, eager to put some distance between himself and the intimidating prosecutor.

Just then, Miles heard his cell vibrate in his coat pocket. He stepped away from the crime scene and answered.

"Miles Edgeworth speaking," he said, the ire in his voice from earlier completely gone.

"Mr. Edgeworth, it's Kay," the young girl said. "I looked into Coldstare's recent cases, and I thought you might want to hear what I found."

"You have my attention," Miles said.

"Meet me back at Coldstare's office. This is some sensitive intel, we shouldn't talk about it over the phone."

"Alright then, I'm on my way," Miles said. He hung up and turned back to the investigators. "I'm afraid I must be on my way. Keep up the work."

"Okay, sir," Ema said, taking off her glasses and smiling. As Miles walked into the building, she took a heavy sigh of relief. "Finally, he'll stop bossing my men around."

Miles opened the door to Maria's office and found Kay sitting behind her desk, which was covered in notebooks and a laptop.

"So, what's this important information you've uncovered?" Miles said.

"Hi to you too. So, first thing's first," Kay said. "Remember those last four guys she prosecuted? All sons to the Rivale boss. As in, the very top boss."

Miles' eyes widened. Maria had told him she was handled high-profile cases, but he didn't realize how far she had gotten. "How did she determine their identity? Several have claimed to be his offspring, but they've all been false. The police don't even know this person's name for sure."

"Coldstare does," Kay said. She held up a journal. "I found this in a locked drawer in the desk. It's all about building a case against the leader. And she had his name."

"How would she know and not the police?" Miles said.

"It's hard to explain. Let me start from the beginning," Kay said. "Coldstare had been looking into this group that at the time had only been known as "the Princes of the Rivale Family". There wasn't much info on them, just rumors and coded messages that the police had intercepted. No one in the Family would talk about it."

"The Rivales are known to be loyal to their family," Miles said.

"Exactly. So she didn't get much info until some Kitakis came forward. They offered info on the "princes" in exchange for a reduced sentence. She followed the leads and eventually caught them red-handed holding a bunch of people hostage. She interrogated them all, and eventually one of them gave her the boss' name."

"A Rivale betrayed his father?" Miles said in disbelief.

"Father-in-law, actually," Kay said. "The leader had four kids, apparently. Three sons; Fred, Henry, and Phillip. Plus a daughter, Liz. This guy, Eugene Naper, married her and that's how he climbed to the top. He never actually liked his father-in-law though, because of how he treated Liz. They've got that whole 'only sons can be heirs' thing, you know the drill. So Eugene gave Coldstare the guy's name, on the condition of a reduced sentence."

"I see…." Miles was impressed, both by Kay and Maria. Discovering the name of an elusive gang leader was no small feat. His mind began racing with the possible implications of this knowledge. However, they were all overshadowed by one nagging question. _Could this really be why Maria was attacked? _

"How could she be sure the name was real?" Miles said.

"I don't think she was, and that's why she didn't file it in the police database yet," Kay said. "But I'm pretty convinced it's the real deal."

"Why is that?"

"There was an incident in prison not too long ago," Kay said. "Eugene was killed after his sentence was reduced. The theory is that the Rivales found out he snitched and was punished."

"I can see where it would a reduced sentence would be suspicious," Miles said. "But what made them think it was a Rivale's work and not a rival gang member?"

"Well, he was kept away from Kitakis and Cadaverinis for his protection, they all were," Kay said. "Not to mention he was 'stabbed in the back' and his eyes were missing. Pretty clear someone was sending a message."

"That's…. disturbing."

"What's disturbing is no one knows where his eyes went," Kay said, shivering.

"So…. What is this man's name?" Miles said.

"Ansar Rivale," Kay said.

_Ansar…. _He suddenly recalled another piece of information. "Kay, are you suggesting…."

"That the knife is his?" Kay said. "Could be."


	14. Chapter 14

**_ Alright, time for a refresher on what happened last time! Probably wouldn't hurt, seeing how it's been a while... *apologetic smile*_**

**_Last time; Miles and Kay were investigating the case of Maria's assault. However, the duo seems to be divided on how to do that. While Miles relentlessly examines every inch of the crime scene, Kay chooses to search Maria's past for answers. Through her research, she uncovers that Maria knew more about the Rivale Family than the police records suggested. She had gone so far as to discover the identity of the mysterious leader of the gang, a man by the name of Ansar Rivale. Hold on now, Ansar? As in, "A"? Where have we seen that letter before….?_**

* * *

Miles stood in Maria's office, arms crossed and his expression serious. Kay sat behind Maria's desk.

"I sense you've put some thought into this hypothesis," Miles said.

"I have. I think Ansar might be who we're looking for," Kay said.

"I'm listening," Miles said.

"Alright, here it goes," Kay said, taking out Little Thief. "Let's start with the obvious part, his name starts with 'A'."

Kay pressed a few buttons on Little Thief and a 3-D image of the culprit's knife appeared. She turned the knife to reveal the "A" symbol on the butt of the knife.

"This symbol was purposefully added to the knife, so clearly it has meaning. But I'm not just accusing the first person I find with a name that starts with "A", I have other reasons. This isn't the first time Coldstare has been attacked. We only know of a few times, but let's be honest. We haven't known her for most of her life, who knows how many times this has happened? She's been hunting them her entire career. And yet, she's escaped death who knows how many times. That must get frustrating."

She brought up the mugshots of the four Princes with Little Thief.

"Furthermore, Coldstare arrested this guy's sons, all four at once. That's not the kind of thing a Rivale take lightly," Kay enlarged Eugene's mugshot. "On top of that, someone found out that Eugene leaked secrets to her. Big, life-costing secrets. Maybe he decided to take matters into his own hands, find her before she found him."

Miles folded his arms and closed his eyes, slipping into deep thought as he processed Kay's preposition.

"It's an interesting theory, to say the least," Miles said.

_You got that right. _Kay tried to make eye contact with her boss, but it was rather difficult as his eyes were still closed. "Is that all you have to say? It's just interesting?"

"It's also logical," Miles said.

"Then let's go find this guy!" Kay said, jumping out of her seat.

"It's not that simple, Kay," Miles said.

"Why not?" Kay said, a tad crestfallen that the elder prosecutor didn't share her enthusiasm.

"Do you think the police haven't been trying to locate this man for years?" Miles said. "Only now do we even know what this man's name could be."

"Could? Why would Eugene be killed if he lied?" Kay said.

"He was a prominent member of a crime ring hated by countless deadly convicts. There's no guarantee that his death has anything to do with this case," Miles said.

"But the timing can't be a coincidence!" Kay said.

"Yes it can," Miles said. "Kay, these are some of the first things the defense would say if this were a trial. You have no evidence to support your accusation."

"I have evidence," Kay said defensively.

"Show me," Miles said. "What evidence do you have to prove that Ansar Rivale has anything to with this case?"

"Take that!" Kay said, presenting the knife. "Ansar's knife!"

"According to who?" Miles said. "The only fact supporting that notion is a pattern resembling a single letter."

Kay wanted to argue, but she knew he was right. If she didn't get more evidence, this case wouldn't go anywhere.

"…. I'll find evidence," Kay said. "I'll prove whose knife it is."

"Best of luck to you," Miles said. "If you need me, I'll be at the crime scene."

"You've been spending a lot of time there," Kay said.

"What of it?"

"It's just…. Have you gone to the police station?"

"What for?"

"Well…. You're a witness, remember? You need to give a detective your official statements."

"I told Detective Skye what I saw. You were there."

"They still need a record of those statements," Kay said. "And you were super vague. You didn't even describe that person you saw."

"I said what was important," Miles said, glaring.

"I'm just saying, it would be really helpful to the investigation if you were questioned," Kay said. "You're the one that keeps saying we need to be as thorough as possible."

Miles took a moment to ponder the idea. "Perhaps you're right."

"Don't worry about the crime scene, they got it down there," Kay said.

"Very well," Miles said.

On the inside, Kay sighed with relief. She could feel that something was off about her boss since Maria was hospitalized. It worried her, but it also made him more difficult to work with at times. She was starting to think he would never leave the crime scene.

_He'll probably just go straight back after giving his statements. _Kay took a moment to examine Miles. At a glance, he seemed perfectly put together as always. There were faint traces of dark rings around his eyes, but that wasn't entirely out of the norm. Then she noticed the wrinkles in his normally pristine suit. The shirt beneath his vest was becoming untucked, his well-polished shoes were scuffed and had lost their sheen. There were creases in his cravat and wayward hairs on his head. They were small things, but they were small things that Kay knew Miles would typically consider to be important.

She wanted to suggest he take a break, but she knew he'd only snap at her. As it was she often felt she was on thin ice with him.

"I'd best be off," Miles said and walked towards the door.

"Okay then," Kay said, gathering her materials so she could depart as well.

"And Kay," Miles said, opening the door and looking back her.

"Yes?" Kay said.

"I couldn't see the culprit very well," Miles said. "All I can say for sure is that the top of their head was white. It was either their hair color, or a hat."

Kay smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Edgeworth."

Miles closed the door. As soon as Kay heard it click, she slumped back into the chair and leaned her head back. She was back to square one. _Hours of research completely undone in less than five minutes. Is that a record?_

She sat up and stared at the landslide of documents on the desk. _This is all I have. I checked all of Coldstare's books, the police database, the court records, what else is there?_

Dismayed, she touched the raven badge on her scarf. Collecting information was certainly simpler as the Yatagarasu. It was a dangerous job at times, but she always got the information she needed. While her suspects always operated under shady business tactics, they were a business nonetheless. They kept track of themselves, their market and their competitors. Nobody knew criminals better than criminals.

_Don't even think about it, Kay. You know how it went last time._

She let go of her badge and started picking up the scattered files. _Alright, what's my next move? I'm not going to find anything that forensics won't at the crime scene, and staring at the same papers won't get me anywhere. _The young prosecutor mulled over her conundrum as she put the papers away.

Suddenly, insight struck her. With a rush of excitement, she vaulted herself over Maria's desk and headed for the door. _Maybe the name "Ansar" means nothing to Edgeworth, but what do criminals have to say?_

* * *

Apollo lounged on the sofa in the Wright Anything Agency office, reading a book.

"Hey, Polly," Trucy said, walking into the room. "What are you doing?"

"I'll give you three guesses," Apollo said, his eyes still fixed on the pages.

Trucy put her hands on her hips. "Being snarky?"

Before Apollo could think of a comeback quip, his cellphone rang. He closed his book and picked up the phone.

"Apollo Justice, attorney at law."

"Apollo, hi! It's Kay. Kay Faraday."

"Oh, hello!" Apollo said, surprised to hear from his past client. He noticed her words were rushed. "What's going on?"

"Mr. Wright probably told you about Coldstare, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm investigating the case. And I was hoping that maybe you could help me with something. I know I'm not in a position to be asking you for any favors, but-"

"What do you need?" Apollo said, cutting her off.

"Really? You're the best!" Kay said. "You're the Kitakis' lawyer, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," Apollo said. He had never been made the family's official lawyer, but everyone seemed to assume that because of the cases he had worked.

"That's what I thought! Would you be able to introduce to the former boss?"

"You want to meet the boss?" Apollo said, hesitantly. Although the man had forsaken the family's criminal traditions, he was still intimidating. Apollo didn't relish the thought of seeing him again. "May I ask why?"

"It's a long story, I can explain on the way if you want. I just need to ask him about somebody. Do you think he'd be willing to talk to me?"

"So you want to ask the Kitaki boss about someone?" Apollo repeated the question, not only to give him time to think, but it was obvious that Trucy was dying of curiosity on the other side of the room. "Alright, Kay, I can take you to him."

"Thank you so much!" Kay said. "Your office is really close to their manor, right?"

"Oh, he won't be there right now," Apollo said. "Where are you?"

"Heh, um…. In front of your office building. I was kind of banking on you helping or going by myself."

"I'll be right down," Apollo said, hanging up.

"Can I come?" Trucy said eagerly.

"I don't see why not," Apollo said. _Honestly, I'd prefer as any people around me and Winfred Kitaki as possible. Safety in numbers._

"Great! Let's go!" Trucy said.


End file.
